Police Operatives of Operation Puff Adder have arrested a nursing mother identified as Simeon Esther for allegedly being in possession of one AK47 rifle and 18 rounds of live ammunition.
The police said she concealed the firearm in a travel bag and intended to deliver it for a kidnap operation.
During interrogation, Esther said she didn’t know the bag’s content. She was promised N5,000 by her husband who asked her to deliver the bag to someone in Ogun state. She 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 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.”
However, the police spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, who confirmed the arrest, said:
“Simeon Esther 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.”
