Operatives of Operation Puff Adder have arrested a nursing mother, Simeon Esther, for alleged possession of one AK47 rifle and 18 rounds of live ammunition.
The police said the firearm, which the suspect allegedly concealed in a travel bag, was meant for a kidnap operation in Ogun State.
Esther said she was promised N5,000 by her husband, who she said asked her to deliver the bag to someone in Ogun State.
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The police said other members of the gang were awaiting the weapon, which would have been used to kidnap a senior citizen in the state.
But the police did not give details of the foiled kidnap operation.
Esther was among 38 suspects paraded on Wednesday at the Special Tactical Squad headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s capital, for alleged kidnapping, armed robbery, cattle rustling, car theft and culpable homicide.
During the parade, Force spokesman Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), said: “A mother and a wife, Simeon Esther, was arrested in Ondo State for possession of one AK47 rifle and 18 rounds of live ammunition.
“The operatives of Operation Puff Adder prevented her from getting to her destination. She was on a mission to deliver the gun to a gang in Ogun State. The gang had perfected plans to kidnap one of the senior citizens in Ogun State but we were able to nip the crime in the bud.
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“They selected her because she is a nursing mother and they believed they would easily beat the prime eyes of our operatives and other security agencies. But we intercepted her and intercepted the expected end recipient of the weapon, thereby aborting the kidnap operation.”
On how she got involved, Esther said: “On Wednesday, my husband (Bright Gbade) called me and asked me to go and deliver the bag to somebody in Ogun State. He did not even tell me the name of the person; he only told me that the person would call me.
“I did not know the content of the bag and they did not even allow me to carry the bag. They carried the bag themselves to the motor park. It was while we were on our way that the policemen searched the bag and found the gun in it.
“We have been married for two years and I did not know that my husband is a criminal. My husband said he is a fisherman when he was asking me out and before I accepted his proposal, he said he was one of the militants who surrendered their weapons during the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
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“I even relocated to my mother’s house because of the way he treats me. I was at my mother’s house when he called me to help him deliver the bag in Ogun State and he promised to give me N5,000, but he ended up not giving me.”
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