By Vincent  Ujumadu

AWKA—ILLEGAL importers operating along the dredged River Niger have allegedly disappeared with goods, arms, ammunition and light weapons said to be heading to the commercial town of Onitsha in Anambra State.

Anambra State branch of the National Task Force Against Illegal Importation of Goods, Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons, NATFORCE, said, yesterday, in Onitsha that the importers were able to escape due to alleged sabotage by some security operatives assigned to arrest them.

Director of operations of the task force, Chief Alex Igwemma, who addressed newsmen in Onitsha, added that the syndicate was also suspected to be involved in oil bunkering, adding that one of the barges they disappeared with was carrying oil stolen from places in Bayelsa and Delta states.

According to Igwemma, the illegal importers were on the run with 15 AK-47 rifles, 30 pump action guns, 20 double-barrelled guns and four tankers of oil, adding that the information was provided by his men planted among the illegal importers.

He explained that NATFORCE had been monitoring the syndicate for the past six months, but regretted that they could not be arrested because some members of the task force leaked information on the planned arrest.

He said: “Last week, we got a hint from our men, who we planted in their fold to monitor them, that the illegal importers had left their point of departure to Onitsha, through the River Niger.

“When we learnt that they had reached Umunankwo in Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state, we quickly alerted the security agencies working with us and we trailed them. Due to the bad terrain, we could not go far and had to hire two Fiber Flying Boats to chase them.

“However, we were surprised when the boat drivers we hired told us that the boats suddenly developed mechanical problem and, regrettably, the delay made us miss them.

“We suspect that the syndicates must have been informed by the boat drivers that we were on their trail and they abandoned one of their three boats after they trans-loaded the arms into the remaining two boats and took off before we got there.”