In a major operation, the Nigerian Army has successfully foiled an international ammunition smuggling syndicate on its way to Anambra State from Mali.
A counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed, this late Sunday night.
Makama said that while conducting a meticulously planned stop and search operation along Ajilete-Owode Road in Yewa North Local Government Area (LGA) of Ogun State, troops of 192 Battalion apprehended a truck bearing plate number (ENU 697 XY).
To their astonishment, the vehicle was loaded with a staggering haul: 720 cartons of Red Star cartridges, each containing 25 cartridges (amounting to 18,000 cartridges), along with 250 packets of live cartridges of pellet black (totaling 2,500 cartridges) of the same calibre,” Makama tweeted.
According to the security analyst, the suspects, identified as Mr. Eric Seworvor, a Ghanaian citizen, and the driver, were arrested at the scene.
He disclosed that the ammunition, meticulously concealed within an empty truck, had been transported from Mali via the Idiroko International Border.
“According to the arrested suspects, their intended destination was Onitsha, Anambra State, where the exhibit was to be delivered to its owner,” Makama said.
The timely intervention by the Nigerian Army, however, thwarted the potential chaos and violence that could have arisen from the illicit trade and use of these dangerous weapons.
