A 39-year-old tailor, Joseph Idoko, who has been in the business of linking armed robbers to gun runners for weapons procurement has been arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
Idoko, however, denied that he is an armed robber, claiming that he only helps his friends to buy guns and other weapons to do their job.
According to The SUN, the suspect added that he finds the business very lucrative and transparent as he makes his profit on the spot unlike his tailoring business where customers price him lowly and even end up not paying after making their clothes.
The native of Benue State said that unlike his tailoring business that is time and energy consuming, linking armed robbers with people who sell guns is easy and stress-free.
Idoko said: “My name is Joseph Idoko. I am 39 years old. I went into doing gun business because of the plenty gain in the business. I am a tailor, I don’t know there was plenty money in the business until I met these gang members on my way to my shop and they told me they needed to buy guns and I told them that I know somebody who they can get it from. And that is Leonard. So I took them to Leonard. Not that I bought the guns and sold to them.
“What happens is that anybody that tells me they want to buy guns I take them to Leonard and ask them to stay somewhere while I go and meet Leonard because I don’t want people to start suspecting us. If I eventually get there, if Leonard says the gun is going for selling for N50,000, I will come back tell them he said it is N70,000, and because they too know that they are doing bad things, they will rush and pay. That way, I will make a profit of N20,000. I will then pay Leonard N50,000 and remove my gain. So far I have taken Anthony, Junior, Ben, and Emma these are the people that I have taken to buy guns before I was arrested.
“I feel ashamed that I was arrested for this kind of business, but the truth is that I am not an armed robber, I am only doing this business to survive. I am a tailor, there is no much profit in tailoring because some people after you sew their clothes will not pay what you told them and some will not even come for months after you spent all you had to buy materials to make their clothes.”
Daniel Yerwa and Azenda Leonard who were paraded alongside Joseph Idoko also spoke to Sunday Sun on how they have been operating as gunrunners.
Yerwa, a native of Kwali in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), said that he has been into the business of arms trade and deals with all manner of criminals, ranging from armed robbers, bandits, kidnappers, among others before he was eventually arrested.
“My name is Daniel Yerwa, I come from Kwali, in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT). I sold pistol and local riffle. The pistol I sell for N170,000 and N160,000; AK N300,000.
I have sold four AK and six pistols before I was arrested. I sell them to armed robbers and other people.”
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