Amosun’s armoury

I didn’t know that private armouries were allowed in Nigeria until the revelation that Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State, was handing over some security assets kept in the government house to law enforcement officers. The initial report by Premium Times indicated that Amosun surrendered 1,000 units of AK47 assault rifles, 1,000 units of […]

I didn’t know that private armouries were allowed in Nigeria until the revelation that Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State, was handing over some security assets kept in the government house to law enforcement officers. The initial report by Premium Times indicated that Amosun surrendered 1,000 units of AK47 assault rifles, 1,000 units of bulletproof vests and an armoured personnel carrier (APC).

On the heels of the national outrage that followed the disclosure, Amosun has denied handing over guns. Speaking through his aide, Rotimi Durojaiye, he said the imported guns had been handed over to the police in 2012 and that only armoured personnel carriers, APCs and some other unstated security assets that had been domiciled at the government house were surrendered on the eve of his departure from office.

In Durojaiye’s words, “We committed substantial funds into procurement of hard and soft ware, and, myriad security assets to decisively combat our security challenges. We got all necessary approvals from the Office of the National Security Adviser to procure the 13 units of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), the 1000 units of AK 47 rifles, 2 Million rounds of ammunition,1000 units of Bullet proof vests and 500 bullet proof helmets and other security communication gadgets… The Federal Government through the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) issued the State the End User Certificate Serial Number 000001123 dated 5th of March, 2012. The Federal Ministry of Finance also granted Import Duty Exemption Certificate through a letter from the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy with Reference Number BO/R.10260/S.4/T.4/22 dated 10th April, 2012…. The AK47 rifles were supplied directly to the Nigeria Police, Ogun State Command. The rest of the merchandise were securely kept in the approved designated armoury within the Government House precincts under police surveillance as it obtains in most Government Lodges….”

The question is, why did Amosun import high grade security assets into the country when he could have donated funds to the police for direct importation as the law permits only security agencies to do so? And why keep back some undisclosed assets in government house? Is a governor allowed to keep an armoury in government house or anywhere else?

Part II Section 3 of the Firearms Act states that, “No person shall have in his possession or under his control any firearm of one of the categories specified in Part I of the Schedule hereto (hereinafter referred to as a prohibited firearm) except in accordance with a licence granted by the president acting in his discretion.”

Nigerian law forbids individuals and civilian institutions from illegally operating armouries or possessing prohibited firearms, including artillery, apparatus for the discharge of any explosive or gas diffusing projectile, rocket weapons, bombs and grenades, machine-guns and machine-pistols, military rifles (namely those of calibres 7.62 mm, 9 mm, 300 inches and .303 inches), revolvers and pistols whether rifled or unrifled (including flint-lock pistols and cap pistols).

If, indeed, the security assets were imported for the police, why not hand over everything at once to the agency? Why was anything kept back? Why would you donate a goat and still hold on to the rope?

Amosun’s insinuation that keeping an armoury is standard practice in government houses all over the federation has now been debunked by no less than 20 states from whom Premium Times, which broke the story, sought information. Some of the other governor’s aides were quite miffed at the suggestion.

Ekerete Udoh, who spoke for Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, said: “I think this is about the most insanely ridiculous question to ask. How can the seat of government of one of the most peaceful, safe and secure states in the nation have an armoury? To do what with it?”

If Udoh’s statement was representative of the responses received from spokespersons of governors in the South, that of Governor el Rufa’i’s media aide was typical of reactions in the North: “We don’t have an armoury in Government House. Anything procured by the state to assist security agencies are usually handed over to the agencies who are the end users. We usually donate patrol vans, motorcycles and vests to them. But we usually hand it over to them. We don’t need an armoury.”

Apparently, Amosun is splendidly alone in his own league. The danger of having arms, ammunition, or any other sensitive security asset under the control of a civilian outside the legal security architecture of the country is quite obvious. Considering the violence that attended electioneering in Ogun State, particularly after Amosun’s anointed candidate lost out in the primaries of APC, the armoury issue needs to be well investigated. Perhaps, the ex-governor handed over the armoury to the police to clear the Government House of any incriminating material on the eve of the inauguration of the new governor against whom he had run a primitively violent campaign.

The Ogun State chapter of APC has alleged that the assets surrendered by the governor were used in disrupting the 2019 elections in the state. “If Amosun is not brought to account, then people will continue to mock the rule of law”, said its spokesperson, Tunde Oladunjoye.

In this era of Boko Haram war, compounded by the infiltration of small arms from the Sahel into the country, the last thing Nigeria needs now is the incidence of private armouries in the hands of political demagogues.

I beg President Buhari to order an investigation.