The Nigerian Army, said that troops of 192 Battalion, operating in 81 Division Area of responsibility have busted an international ammunition smuggling syndicate, while transporting a truck-load of ammunition to Anambra State.
This is contained in a statement by the director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, made available to newsmen on Monday.
According to Nwachukwu, the troops, uncovered the illegal ammunition in a truck with number plates ENU 697 XY, when conducting a stop-and-search operation along Ajilete-Owode Road in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday.
He said that the truck was loaded with 720 packets of (red) cartridges of 12 calibre, containing 25 cartridges per packet. The total comes to 18,000 cartridges and there are also additional 250 packets of live (black) cartridges containing 10 packets each, totalling 2,500 cartridges of same calibre.
“The suspects, identified as Mr. Eric Seworvor, a Ghanaian, and the driver, Mr. Lukman Sani, have been taken into custody and are helping with ongoing investigations,” he added.
He noted that the information gathered during preliminary investigation revealed that the ammunition, which were surreptitiously concealed in a supposed empty truck, were imported from Mali, via Idiroko border.
“The criminals had successfully beaten several other checkpoints en route their final destination in Onitsha, Anambra State, where they intended to deliver the illegal ammunition.
“The timely intervention by the vigilant troops, however, thwarted the chaos that such volume of ammunition would have unleashed on innocent members of the public, if the criminals had succeeded,” the director said.
He therefore, appeals to citizens to continue to support the troops and other security agencies with credible and actionable information, as they combat security challenges across the country.