Ordinarily, the arrest of a suspected supplier of arms to bandits in Niger State following a tipoff should be cheering news. But it raised more questions than answers.
The posers include: Who supplies the supplier with arms? How do arms enter the country illegally? What are the security agencies doing to prevent arms from getting into the wrong hands?
The suspect, Umar Shehu, 31, was reported saying he got the arms from one Abdulmani in Taraba State, who was killed by a security squad in Kaduna this year. He also said he had supplied arms and ammunition to bandits in Madaki forest, Katsina State, and in Maidaro forest, Kaduna State, as well as to a terrorist in the Kwamba-Maje area of Suleja, Niger State. For every 500 rounds of ammunition delivered to bandits, he was paid N100,000, he said, on September 6, at police headquarters, Minna, Niger State.
