In Today’s Nigeria, there is a craze amongst elites is to be chauffeured in a private jet. Government officials, particularly governors, who are hired by the people, use tax payers’ money to acquire private jets for themselves while relegating the dividends of democracy, such as good roads and hospitals, to the background. Aside from being a status symbol, huhuonline.com has learnt that these Jets are used to smuggle arms into the country without adequate inspection.
Director General, National Task Force on Illegal Importation of Light Weapons and Small Arms, Osita Okereke, who revealed this on Monday, accused governors of purchasing arms for their state using their private jets while no security man searches them due to their status.
He described Zamfara State, where the state governor plans to arm vigilante groups with weapons, as an example of the situation.
“There are so many of them in various states,” he said. “These governors have brought in arms that are uncountable.”
According to Okere, many states have been spotlighted. However, he kept mum on the identity of these states, as it is a security matter.
“There are millions of arms in Nigeria,” he added “Governors are already arming ahead of 2015 general elections.”
Okereke then urged the Federal Government to raise allocation of funds to the task force, as it has informants all over the country, who must be paid at regular intervals.
