The Northern socio-political group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has raised an alarm that camels are now being used to bring in Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and anti-aircraft guns” into the country through the northern borders.
The National Chairman of ACF, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who disclosed this in a statement he personally signed on Thursday, said the weapons were being ferried into the country from a neighbouring country.
He, however, did not mention any country in particular, saying that the information was provided by ACF members in Sokoto and Zamfara States.
Both Sokoto and Zamfara States share borders with the Niger Republic.
Ogbeh said that the body found it duty-bound to alert the Federal Government for urgent and necessary actions.
“Already, it is speculated that weapons as dangerous as Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), and anti-aircraft guns are part of the cargo ferried by camels freely into our country from neighbouring countries,” he said.
According to the chairman, the camels bringing in the consignments (weapons) are not being checked by security operatives.
He added it would do the nation a lot of good if the Federal Government deals with the situation immediately.
Ogbeh, a former Minister of Agriculture, also alleged that ransom money being paid to kidnappers were being used for illegal arms purchase.
“At the last meeting of our National Executive Council, NEC, in October 2020, our members, particularly from Sokoto and Zamfara, reported that large consignments of Camels were crossing our borders into Nigeria with a lot of baggage on their backs on a daily basis.
“And they observed that nobody checks their baggage and nobody knows what is being brought into Nigeria.
“The question Arewa Consultative Forum would like to ask the security agencies is what are the camels carrying and where they are heading?
“The ACF is alarmed that this kind of situation should persist at a time when weapons of all kinds are coming into our country and worsening the climate of terror and national uncertainty,”Ogbeh said.
He added: “It is clear now from what we know that, as victims pay ransoms to the kidnappers the money is instantly converted to more sophisticated weapons and instruments of death by the kidnappers.
“The capacity of these terrorists is rising by the day and we are not far from the moment when the terrorist will become better armed than our accredited security agencies.
“The ACF wants to alert the government about this situation, if they are not aware of it and if they are aware of it, to ask what they are doing about it.”
