Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The military spike operation code named “Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS)” says it has arrested two suspected weapon manufacturers in Logo Local Government area of Benue State.
Parading the suspects at the OPWS headquarters in Makurdi, the Benue State capital on Monday, Force Commander of OPWS, Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, said troops were able to track them down after four weeks of surveillance.
“About three weeks ago, OPWS received reports of some weapon manufacturers operating between Ukum and Logo local government areas of the state. After another four weeks of surveillance, we were able to track the culprits to their location.
In his reaction to the incident, Sector 2 Commander, OPWS, Captain Samuel Okenarghe, said the task of locating the arms manufacturers was a tough one but that it later paid off.
“It was not an easy task trying to locate where they were. We later got information of two manufacturers in Anyii and that the locals were trying to lynch one of them. We rescued him and he later took us to Tinenune village in Ukum where the two factories were located. His accomplice initially ran away but was later apprehended.”
Speaking to newsmen while being paraded, one of the suspects, Cephas Ati, who claims to be a telecommunications engineer said he learnt arms manufacturing in Mauritania in less than five years.
Ati who was paraded alongside his accomplice, Mnzuga Terhila, said he went into the arms business two years ago after returning from Europe and had financial setback, stating that his initial plan of going into the business was just to raise some funds and get back on his feet.
“I lived in Europe and started this arms business when I returned from Europe two years ago. All I had vanished due to witchcraft and I had to start all over again. I had this idea of arms and I thought of going into it to get small money.”
Narrating how he was arrested, Ati said: “On Monday, I was traveling from Wukari to Anyii. When I got to Anyii, since it was long I hadn’t been there, I had this old friend who called to ask me if he can get a simple riffle for self defense. So, I obliged him and promised to get it for him.
“I don’t own a workshop but I know a manufacturer, Tavershima Vande. On arriving Anyii, I went to check my farm at about 8am, and while there, some of my brothers who were also laying claims to the same farmland came and we started exchanging words. There and then, they called the army saying there’s somebody here with an Ak 47 rifle. That was how I was arrested.”
Explaining how riffles are manufactured, Ati said a pistol takes just two days to make while it takes an average of two weeks to manufacture an AK47 riffle.
Ati who added that a fabricated pistol goes for at least N50,000 while an AK47 goes for between N320,000 and N350,000 revealed that since he joined the business, he had sold 16 weapons to customers from different tribes.