Soldier turned bandit arrested with arms on Kaduna-Abuja highway

A forty-one-year-old retired soldier turned bandit and arms supplier said his masters paid him a hundred thousand nairas on every delivery of arms and ammunition to Bandits and Kidnappers

The former soldier who voluntarily retired after nineteen years in service said his elder brother introduced him to the criminal business and exposed him to Many bandit Camps and Kingpins

The retired army corporal was admitted into the Nigerian Army in the year 2003 and retired in 2022

The Suspect Sa’idu Lawal who has been supplying arms and Ammunition to six troubled northern states made the confessions at the Zamfara State Police Command, in Gusau, the state capital.

He said he has partners in crime across Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, and the Niger States.

Zamfara is one state that has been battling insecurity especially Banditry, Kidnapping for ransom, cattle rustling, and other heinous crimes for over a decade

Sa’idu Lawal is a native of Zamfara State, from Mada village in Tsafe local government area.

He has been supplying arms and Ammunition to a notorious bandit kingpin known as Dogo Hamza who has been terrorizing Tsafe local council area for years.

The weapons according to the suspect during interrogation are used in killing innocent citizens in Zamfara and other states including his own village Mada.

Mada is one of the communities that has suffered in the hands of bandits and kidnappers recently which has forced almost eighty percent of the locals to flee their homes for fear of being attacked, killed, or abducted.

Despite efforts by security forces, violent crimes are on the rise and this is not unconnected to the easy access to small and light weapons in the country.

The proliferation of arms is as a result of numerous illegal and porous border entries and a booming gun-running business

This is fuelling Nigeria’s security challenges, giving rise to criminal activities across the country.

Lawal told journalists gathered at the Zamfara State Police Command that he voluntarily retired from the service with the intention to start a transportation business which according to him he did for a few months before joining Banditry and arms supply.

The 41-year-old suspect was arrested by police tactical escort of the newly deployed Commissioner of Police Kolo Yusuf who is a professional crime fighter along the Kaduna – Abuja corridor while on his way to deliver the items to his client in Zamfara.

He was on his way to supply weapons worth over three million nairas to his client Dogo Hamza in Zamfara when the police arrested him

He said he bought the arms and ammunition in Loko local government area in Nasarawa state, north central Nigeria.

The Suspected gun runner insists his elder brother Mallam Bello introduced him to the business, prompting him to retire from the Army.

Experts said the porous nature of Nigeria’s borders coupled with the shortage of manpower in the various security agencies, has made it easy for gunrunners to bring in the different caliber of weapons that they sell at giveaway prices, leaving the country at the receiving end of insecurity.