Jay Anyim
A nursing mother, Simeon Esther, was on Wednesday paraded by the police, for allegedly being in possession of one AK47 rifle and 18 rounds of live ammunition.
Esther, who was arrested, in Ondo State, claimed the rifle which was in a bag, was given to her by her husband, who is now at large, to deliver to his friend in Ogun State.
The suspect who said she did not know the content of the bag until she was arrested, further revealed that her husband had promised to pay her N5,000 for the delivery.
According to Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DSP Frank Mba, who paraded the suspect alongside 37 others arrested during Operation PUFF ADDER, the rifle was to be delivered for a kidnap operation.
Parading the suspects at the Special Tactical Squad Headquarters in Abuja, Mba said, “A mother and a wife, Simeon Esther was arrested in Ondo State for being in possession of one AK47 Rifle and 18 rounds of live ammunition. The operatives of Operation Puff Adder prevented her from getting to her destination.
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“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.
“They selected her because she is a nursing mother and they believed they will easily beat the prime eyes of our operatives and other security agencies but we intercepted her and also intercepted the expected end recipient of the weapon, thereby aborting the kidnap operation.”
Telling her own side of the story, Esther said she never suspected her husband to be a criminal. She however revealed her husband used to be a militant, but had turned over a new leaf during the amnesty programme of the Federal Government.
In her words, “Last Wednesday, my husband 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 will 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 amnesty programme.
“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 N5000 but he ended up not giving me.”
A total of 30 Firearms, 77 live Ammunition, 160 rustled cattle, 1,972 Bags of Grains and 208 bags of Beans were recovered by operatives.