Police arrest Lagos corp member for involvement in gunrunning business

The operatives of Lagos state police command have arrested one Ashiwobel Joseph, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, for transporting firearms from Calabar to the state.

Ashiwobel would conceal the arms inside foodstuff before taking them to a transport company that would convey them to Lagos state, from where his accomplice who would be waiting at the park would pick them up, according to reports.

However, luck ran against him when one of the bags containing the arms was mistakenly handed over to one Aji Augustine, a resident of Ibeju, Lekki region of the state.

Augustine said, “I sent money to my mother to buy foodstuff from our village in Obudu, Cross River state.

“On the agreed date, I went to the park, and was given two bags filled with foodstuff.

“My wife started unpacking the products in the bags as soon as I returned to my residence.

“She had finished unpacking the first bag but when she opened the second bag, then, she noticed a brown cartoon that was heavy and sealed.

“The carton was squeezed in between tubers of yam, and by the time she opened it, she screamed at the sight of the guns,” he said.

Augustine stated that he contacted his mother in Cross River state to ascertain the content of the bag, only to discover he had mistakenly taken another person’s bag, The Vanguard reports.

He further added that the driver of the car called him numerous times on his way to the police station to inform him that the driver had given him the wrong bag.

The driver of the vehicle was subsequently apprehended by police operatives, according to reports.

When the information reached the state’s commissioner of police, Abiodun Alabi, he ordered operatives of the special squad to track down the fleeing suspects, consequent upon which Ashiwobel was arrested some days after.

Ashiwobel, who graduated from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, stated that, “I was posted to Lagos state for my Youth Service, where I met a man called ‘Snatcher.’

“During the discussion, he told me he needed arms, that there were ready buyers here in Lagos.

“I had to contact a Cameroonian named Justin, whom I met about four years ago, during the war at the border town in Calabar.

“He was supplying guns to the fighters, and he gave us N5,000 to allow him passage. He was into that business until the war in Cameroon ended.

“He sold the seven guns to me for N150,000. However, I didn’t want to travel with it because of fear of possible arrest.

“So, I decided to waybill it to ‘Snatcher.’ I tucked them in between tubers of yam and fish. No one would have noticed it, had the bag not been opened.

“I was waiting for Snatcher’s call to confirm receipt of the consignment.

“When he eventually did, he told me the bag he got from the driver was empty. That was when we discovered it was mistakenly swapped.

“We contacted the driver who called the man (Augustine) that picked up the bag, however, by the time he went to meet the man, he had been arrested.

“I had to hand myself over to the police in order to exonerate the bus driver who was not aware that the bag I gave to him contained arms,” he added.