What You Need to Know:
Eight suspects, including one Cameroonian were arrested last week following a Joint Task Force (JTF) operation to clamp down on arms manufacturing in Benue State, Nigeria.
Eight Beretta pistols under fabrication, one fabricated AK47 rifle, 10 AK47 live ammunition, five Beretta pistol ammunition, four welding gas cylinders and other fabricating materials were uncovered, with police stating the investigation is still ongoing.
According to police sources, the suspects confessed to exporting arms as well as selling arms to locals.
The Details:
Cross border arms smuggling is extremely prevalent in Nigeria, with the arrest of a Cameroonian indicative of a Nigeria-Cameroon arms smuggling route. Nigeria’s border with Cameroon runs 1,227 miles in length, and as such enables the mass smuggling of arms through the country to Cameroon and vice versa.
The Institute of Security Studies claims, “weapons pass through corridors used for illicit trade, migratory flows and transhumance. To reach Boko Haram in Nigeria, guns from Chad pass through the country’s capital N’Djamena, and are then smuggled through Kousseri and Fotokol in Cameroon. Or they pass through Cameroon’s Mora and surrounding areas.
Weapons are also leaving Boko Haram strongholds to fuel insecurity in Northern Cameroon. Their route follows an axis between Gwoza in Nigeria, and Mayo-Tsanaga and Mayo-Louti or Bénoué in Cameroon.”
