- Who owns truckload of live bullets uncovered when truck carrying them tipped over in Anambra?
The providential interception recently of a truckload of live ammunition in Anambra State showed just how creepy and deep-seated the security challenge this country has on its hands.
A Mercedes Benz 911 truck that ran into a ditch on Awka Road, Onitsha, in the early hours of penultimate Sunday was found laden with highly hazardous cargo, namely cartons of live bullets that tipped over into lay-by drainage when the mishap occurred. Reports said the truck was hauling its deadly consignment out of Onitsha to an unidentified location when the driver lost control and skidded off the road into the ditch. Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 5a.m., with the driver and his conductor, both of whom sustained minor injuries, having frantically tried to evacuate and conceal the cargo. “But they could not do much before daybreak when police operatives arrived on the scene to discover the truck was laden with a consignment of live bullets,” a source was quoted saying. According to the accounts, early morning worshippers stumbled on the scene and raised the alarm that attracted security agents who cordoned off the area.
The driver of the ill-fated truck was arrested by police and the truck impounded, but the conductor escaped. Anambra State Police Command spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu confirmed the mishap, although he was not categorical about the cargo being hauled by the truck, saying investigation had commenced into the incident and promising to get back to The Nation reporter. A senior police officer who spoke in confidence, however, confirmed the details: “We are going to get to the root of the matter. The conductor is equally being trailed. It’s a very difficult time for everybody and people have to be careful,” said the source. Residents of the commercial city were reported gripped with fear following the incident, but we think not Onitsha residents alone should be alarmed but all Nigerians.
The circumstances of this incident suggest that but for the intervention of sheer providence, the truck could have successfully hauled off its deadly content to the intended destination – with all the security implications of such transaction. If the cargo originated in Onitsha, it is curious that there was no local intelligence of any sort, including neighbourhood witnesses, to raise the alarm about that transaction. And if the cargo originated before Onitsha, the transporter curiously beat all road checks until he got derailed by happenstance on Awka Road. This incident is, therefore, a chilling wake-up call to civic alertness and communal responsibility for heading up security intelligence. In this regard, it bears restating that security is every citizen’s responsibility and not that of security personnel alone; for us to keep safe, we must all stay alert and volunteer useful intelligence.
Only last month, former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, highlighted the insidious dimension of Nigeria’s security challenge, saying there was proliferation of arms within the citizenry. “The proliferation of all calibre of weapons in Nigeria is worrying. It is estimated that there are over six million of such weapons in circulation in the country. This has certainly exacerbated the insecurity that led to over 80,000 deaths and close to three million internally displaced persons,” Abubakar said at a stakeholder parley organised in Abuja by the National Peace Committee (NPC), of which he is chair. His alarm came on the back of a recent report by international group, SBM Intelligence, indicating that Nigerian civilians possess more arms than security officials. “The number of small arms in circulation in Nigeria in the hands of civilian non-state actors is estimated at 6,145,000, while the armed forces and law enforcement collectively account for 586,600 firearms,” the report said.
It stands to reason that the content of the truck that off-tracked in Onitsha was not the stuff harvested from looted armouries of security establishments; there must have been a dedicated supplier, to a dedicated procurer, for whatever use the ammunition was intended. Security agents have a golden opportunity to unmask every dynamic behind this transaction as could offer useful insight to other schemings by violence merchants.
