Ojomo Gbenga Adebowale, an arms dealer arrested by the police in connection to the kidnapper, Hamisu Wadume, has revealed how he supplied weapons to the Taraba kidnapper.
Adebowale, who is currently in the custody of the police, explained that the business relationship between him and Wadume started with the supply of six AK-47 and 3000 rounds of ammunition to him.
“I am into firearms dealership,” he said.
Narrating how his business relationship with Wadume evolved, he said:
“I got to know him through one Moses. You know the firearm business involves a lot of people; it is not a one-man business; it’s a cartel and we have bases and we are based in different places like Lagos, Ibadan and Onitsha.
“So, I got to know Hamisu through one Moses from Onitsha. This Moses is a friend to one Dooshima and Delili, who happen to be Tiv guys from Benue State.
“Wadume is a friend to Doshima and Delili and they usually come from Makurdi, to see Moses who is my partner in firearms business; that was how I met him.
“There was a time I traveled to do supply in Onitsha; that was the first time I met them and that was about four years ago.
“They came together to Onitsha. He wasn’t my customer, so I didn’t have much dealings with him; I only chatted with him because my business is a mafia kind of business; so I’m careful with the kind of people I deal with.
“Besides, I didn’t want my partner to think that I wanted to snatch his customers from him, so I decided to stay away from them.
“I think the last time I went to make supply, I went to Makurdi, that was six months after we met in Onitsha; we were all together in Makurdi; that was where I got to know that Hamisu is actually from Taraba State, because all along I was thinking he was from Benue State because of his friends.
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“That was four years ago when I went to supply Doshima and Delili their consignments.
“Later, I don’t know if he got my number from them; but early this year, I think around January, because I travelled out of the country. I had a problem and travelled and came back that was when they now broke the news of the death of Delili.
“Wadume told me that Delili was dead and that he got my number through Delili because when he called me early this year, he was calling with a hidden number.
“It was when I picked the phone that he said Delili was dead. I was shocked and he said that the Hamisu whom I was not really friendly with was in dire need of AK-47 rifles.
“I think he asked for 10 AK-47 rifles, and I didn’t have that number at the time in my possession. “But since he said he was in desperate need of them, I told him I had only six and four cans because he requested for 10.
“The ammunition is called can. The box of the ammunition is called can. So I said I could only provide six AK-47s and four cans. That was late January this year.”
Continuing, Adebowale said: “since he was in desperate need of the weapons, each AK-47 was supposed to be N650,000, but I sold them to him for N800,000. The ammunition I gave to him was at the rate of N350,000.”
On how he took the weapons to Hamisu he said: “I brought them from Burkina Faso and I usually transport them to my clients by concealing them properly in whatever vehicle I take to do the delivery.
“We have a vehicle and there is a compartment we built neatly in the vehicle where we conceal these weapons that cannot be detected by security personnel on the road.
“I usually bring the weapons from Burkina Faso and Ghana.
“I took the weapons personally to Makurdi to supply to Hamisu. We supply anywhere. But he comes from Taraba to Benue so I supplied to him in Makurdi. I travelled to Makurdi and Moses too and most times Makurdi is our meeting point. We use either Onitsha or Makurdi as our supply base, but most times it is Makurdi.”