The Director-General, National Task Force on Illegal Importation of Light Weapons and Small Arms, Osita Okereke made a startling revelation on television yesterday that state governors were using private jets to smuggle arms illegally into the country.
Okereke, who said this while appearing on Channels Television breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, stated that “they (governors) take private jets abroad, purchase arms and land in their state –no security man has right to search or search him because it is a governor’s item. You cannot stop, you cannot search them.”
Mr Okereke gave this remark over the availability of arms in Zamfara state which the state Governor plans to arm vigilante groups within the state, to address its insecurity, which he revealed was just the one that was public knowledge.
“There are many governors with so many arms in this country that the numbers of arms they are having is ‘uncountable’.
“There are so many of them in various states. These governors have brought in arms that are uncountable” he affirmed.
He further revealed that “we have marked so many states” but however failed to mention any of such state, saying “it is a security matter.”
He traced the plethora of arms to Governors who according to Mr Okereke, armed hoodlums with the guns.
“There are millions of arms in Nigeria” he said, adding that they (Governors) are already arming ahead of 2015 general elections.
He appealed that the government should provide the task force on Illegal Importation of Light Weapons and Small Arms, with Police, Army and budgeted funds because “we have informants all over the place and we need to pay them.”