A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos is currently informing operatives of the Lagos State Police Command how he abandoned his primary obligations as a youth corps member to pursue a career as an arms dealer.
He wanted to supplement his NYSC allowance with some extra income, so he decided to start a side company. He then phoned an old acquaintance, who encouraged him to pursue a career as an illegal guns dealer. He did not survive long in the trade, however, before being caught.
Joseph Ashiwobel, a 29-year-old member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has been arrested. He is accused of specialising in the purchase and sale of locally made weaponry that were allegedly built in his village in Cross River State. Days after he was declared wanted, he was apprehended by agents of the Lagos State Police Command Special Squad.
On April 23, 2022, his illegal trade was discovered when his final shipment of seven locally made pistols was erroneously sent to another individual, a certain Aji Augustine, by the courier business he engaged. Augustine was terrified and brought the firearms to the local police station.
Augustine, who lives in Lagos' Ibeju Lekki neighbourhood, told the police that he transferred money to his mother to buy food from their hometown in Cross River. They agreed that the food should be delivered by a transportation business that also serves as a courier. He went to the park on the agreed-upon date and was given two bags full of food. He returned home and gave his wife the bag to unpack.
His wife opened the first bag and saw a brown carton that was quite heavy and sealed up when she opened the second bag. She called her husband's attention to the weight of the bundle wedged between yam tubers.
Her husband persuaded her to open it, noting that his mother had made no mention of any of the food items being given to another family. She shrieked when she opened it and saw the firearms. Augustine, who was terrified as well, claimed he had no alternative but to take the pistols to the nearest police station, where he would hand them over to officials and explain how he got them.
The bus driver who made the mistake phoned Augustine to bring the luggage and collect his own, according to the Saturday Sun investigation.
The contents of the bag, unbeknownst to the driver, were not food items, as Joseph said.
He was apprehended, and the courier company was ordered to explain how it unwittingly helped the transfer of guns from Cross River to Lagos.
As soon as Joseph learned of the arrest, he immediately informed his buyer, a fugitive armed robber known as Snatcher. Snatcher went to an unknown location while Joseph, who was already in Lagos, hurried back to his village.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, was determined to find Joseph and others, so he instructed the command special team to chase them down.
Joseph was apprehended in Lagos after several days of tracing and surveillance. Two of his buyers, Rasheed Oguntade and Aladeokin Ahmad, were apprehended by the police, but the search for Snatcher, who remains at large, is still ongoing. Oguntade was also found with a locally built shotgun purchased from Joseph.
begging for forgiveness
Joseph, a native of Obudu in Cross River State, told the Saturday Sun that his drive for extra cash got him into trouble. ", he said.
I studied Biology Education at the Federal University of Agriculture and graduated with honours.
I am now serving as a member of the youth corps in Lagos, which I began in September.
During my interactions with folks in Lagos, I encountered a man whom we refer to as Snatcher. He is a local politician who has been accused of being an armed robber by some. He's known as Snatcher since he's a master at stealing things.
"I only see him when we get together to play games and watch football. He asked me one day if I could assist him in purchasing firearms from my state.
He told me that he has a thriving market in Lagos, and that his customers were a nuisance.
I initially declined, but he persisted, claiming that he usually buys locally made pistols from Benue and Cross River.
The Nigerian economy is in horrible shape, and the monthly money I received as a corps member was insufficient to keep me afloat. I'm married with two children, and as a man, I'm required to provide them a monthly allowance."
Joseph claimed that he remembered a man named Justin who buys and sells guns in Cameroon, and that he was now convinced to become an arms dealer.
"About four years ago, I met Justin, a Cameroonian. Cameroon's border towns near our state were fighting at the time. We were playing ball when we noticed him carrying a large sack. We stopped him and ordered him to open the sack because he was unknown.
It was crammed with a variety of weaponry made in the area. He pleaded with us, saying that if he didn't get those guns, his entire town would be wiped out. We let him go after settling with us for N5000.
"He became well-known in our community because he kept returning for more." So, when I got a gun-selling order, I called him and he told me to bring money. He was the one who sold me the seven firearms and received N150,000 for them.
"I called Snatcher as soon as I got the guns, and we arranged to waybill the guns to him." I was scared that if I brought it as a regular passenger, security officers would find it during checkpoint halt and searches. It is preferable for them to locate and grab it.
"We agreed that I should get yam tubers and fish and conceal them inside the sack." I took a brown carton and folded the weapons so that it looked like it was packaged fish.
I then sent it through a well-known local transportation business and instructed Snatcher to pick it up.
Snatcher contacted later that night to say the bag he had recovered was full of food but no guns.
When I contacted the driver, he expressed regret. He admitted that it was a mistake and offered to return it. I rode the next bus to Lagos to assist in the search for the bag until I heard that the bus driver had been arrested by the police.
It occurred to me at that point that they must have discovered the guns. While Snatcher departed, I hurried back to the settlement.
"I tried everything I could to figure it out, but the cops started looking into it, and it will be quite easy to trace me down to my place." "I fled back to Lagos and tried to hide, but the cops discovered me," he explained.
Joseph begged for forgiveness, saying that all of his efforts to become a graduate would be for naught if NYSC found out he wanted to sell guns. "I'm selling firearms to someone in Lagos for the second time. I'm conscious that it's unethical, but I needed to generate money quickly.
I had the impression that these guns would be utilised by politicians rather than armed criminals. I apologise and request the cops to pardon me and give me another chance to make amends. Please don't let the NYSC find out about what I did," he urged.
Source: Sun news