Operatives of the Bauchi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested Two suspects dealing in arms and ammunition.
The suspects, Dung Rwang and Dachollum Yohanna, were caught with 1,360 rounds of live ammunition.
The suspects were arrested by NDLEA on patrol along the Bauchi-Jos Road.
According to the information Punch Metro got, the suspects boarded a commercial car from Numa, Adamawa State, and were heading for Jos, Plateau State.
The suspects were among the seven passengers in the car en-route to Plateau. Their intention was to sell the ammunition in Plateau state.
They had hidden the weapons in sacks and kept them in the boot of the vehicle. Among the weapon was one AK-47 magazine.
Jonah Achema, the spokesperson for the anti-narcotic agency, said in a statement on Wednesday that the suspects admitted to committing the crime.
He said, “The NDLEA has intercepted 1,360 rounds of live ammunition of 7.6mm calibre during a motorised patrol along the Bauchi-Jos Road”.
“The ammunition was being conveyed to Jos, Plateau State, by a commercial Vectra car, which was conveying seven passengers.
One AK-47 magazine was also found in the vehicle,” he said.
He went on to say: “Upon interrogation, two of the passengers, Dung Rwang and Dachollum Yohanna, admitted ownership of the ammunition and the magazine.
“They neatly concealed the ammunition in sacks and kept in the boot of the vehicle.”
“They were conveying the consignment from Numan in Adamawa State to certain buyers in Plateau State. The suspects have been unable to produce any official permit for the items,” he said.
The spokesman also stated that the suspects confessed that they had been into illegal arms dealing for some time, selling a piece of ammunition “for N500 only.”
Yohanna, one of the suspects, was quoted to have said: “It is a business for us.
“Things are really hard in this country and we need to sell these items so that we can put food on the table for our families,” Yohanna said.
The Bauchi State Commander, NDLEA, Segun Oke, stated that the suspects and the exhibits would be delivered over to the state police command to launch a further investigation into the case.
We, “cannot take this issue of arms trafficking lightly,” he said.