Africa’s most populous country and biggest energy producer, Nigeria is battling insecurity on many fronts, including a long-running insurgency in the northeast and armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest.

Captain Reuben Kovangiya, spokesperson for the military’s anti-insurgency operation, said the arrests were part of a crackdown on racketeering involving ammunition.

Local media reported that 18 soldiers, 15 policemen and eight civilians were taken into custody.

“It is part of the counter-arms and ammunition racketeering operation conducted in every theatre of operations,” Kovangiya told Reuters. “If any personnel engage in any act that is inimical to the system, they are arrested and tried.”

Kovangiya did not elaborate on the types and numbers of weapons sold but said the suspects would be prosecuted.

Nigeria has this year experienced a surge in attacks by militants from Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, who have overrun some military bases in the northeastern state of Borno.

In the course of most of the raids, militants have seized weapons from army bases.

Source: Reuters

According to him, there have been multiple engagements on various platforms to raise awareness among Ghanaians that importing weapons into the country without proper authorisation is illegal.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on Wednesday, Mr Asante said such incidents pose a serious threat to the national security of the country and should not be occurring.

“It is a crime, and according to the Criminal Offences Act, it is a first-degree felony,” he stated.

His remarks follow the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) seizure of a 40-foot container at the Tema Port.

The container, numbered MEDU4496951, was shipped from the United States and falsely declared to contain vehicles and personal effects. Upon inspection on 4 November 2024, officials discovered 53 pistols, 74 magazines, and 65 live rounds of ammunition concealed in suitcases.

The operation resulted from thorough investigations conducted by the GRA’s Intelligence and Preventive Units.

The Commissioner of Customs, Brigadier General Zibrim Ayorrogo, confirmed the development, saying, “Arrests have been made, and investigations are ongoing to unravel the full details of the shipment and its intended recipients.”

In light of this, Mr Asante urged those involved in illegal arms smuggling to desist, warning, “when it gets into the country, you will never know where these weapons will end.”

Commenting on the current political climate and the upcoming 7 December general elections, Mr Asante stressed the need for peace elections.

He urged Ghanaians to ensure the country maintains the peace it currently enjoys.

“This is not the time to introduce any weapons into the elections. We are just going to exercise our franchise and express our opinion for who we want to lead us. And so we should all go to the polls, be law-abiding, vote and go your way,” he said.

Mr Asante cautioned against prematurely linking the confiscated weapons to the elections.

He stated that he does not believe the confiscated weapons are related to the December 7 general elections, stressing that such a conclusion cannot be made until the investigations are completed.

The US government says Israel may have breached humanitarian law in Gaza using American weapons.

US officials had said Russia was in the process of purchasing rockets and artillery shells from North Korea.

They said such moves, along with alleged purchases of Iranian weapons, showed Western sanctions were impeding Russia’s efforts in the Ukraine war.

Moscow denied the reports at the time.

Any arms movement between the two countries would be in violation of United Nations sanctions.

On Thursday, in a statement carried by North Korean state media KCNA, an unnamed official at North Korea’s defence ministry said: “We have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before and we will not plan to export them.”

It accused the US, and other “hostile forces”, of spreading rumours to “pursue its base political and military aims”.

In early September, a US state department spokesman said Russia’s North Korean purchases “could include literally millions of rounds, rockets and artillery shells.”

But National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later appeared to caveat that statement, by saying the purchases had not yet been completed and there was no evidence to suggest the weapons would be used in the Ukraine war.

Many of North Korea’s Russian-designed weapons hail from the Soviet era, but it has missiles similar to Russian ones.

The statements followed reports citing US officials that the first shipments of Iranian-made drones had been delivered to Russia, and that Russian drone operators had travelled to Iran to receive training. Iran has denied delivering weapons.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has proven costly for its military, despite using advanced weapons such as cruise missiles. Ukrainian forces, using Western weapons that have been funnelled into the country in recent months, have inflicted heavy losses.

Russian-North Korean relations declined after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, but have gradually picked up in recent years as Russia’s relations with the West have soured.

With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Kim Jong-un’s regime has blamed the US for the conflict and accused the West of pursuing a “hegemonic policy” that justified Russia’s use of force.

In July, North Korea was one of the few countries that officially recognised two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. In retaliation, Ukraine cut off all diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.

Earlier this month, Russian president Vladimir Putin vowed to expand their “comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations” in a letter to his counterpart Kim Jong-un. North Korea has also said it will deepen its “comradely friendship” with Moscow.

The White House is said to be concerned Beijing may undermine western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country, according to several US officials who spoke to the Financial Times and The Washington Post.

The officials refused to disclose what kind of military equipment or financial support Moscow had requested, citing fears such information could inadvertently reveal how the intelligence was gathered.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Mr Sullivan plans in his meeting with Mr Yang to make Washington’s concerns clear while mapping out the consequences and growing isolation China would face globally if it increases its support of Russia, one US official said, without providing details.

Mr Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Washington believed China was aware that Russia was planning some action in Ukraine before the invasion took place, although Beijing may not have understood the full extent of what was planned.

He added that Washington was watching closely to see to what extent Beijing provided economic or material support to Russia, and would impose consequences if that occurred.

“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Mr Sullivan said.

“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world.”

China has so far claimed neutrality over the war in Ukraine and has refused to condemn Russian leader Vladimir Putin for ordering the invasion.

Asked about Russia’s request for military aid, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, denied the reports, saying: “I’ve never heard of that.”

He said China found the current situation in Ukraine “disconcerting” and added: “We support and encourage all efforts that are conducive to a peaceful settlement of the crisis.”

The US-China summit, which has been planned to take place for some time, is thought to be part of a broader effort by Washington and Beijing to maintain open channels of communication and manage competition between the world’s two largest economies.

Wang Huiyao, head of a Beijing think tank and adviser to the Chinese government, warned of “an escalatory spiral” in a column published in The New York Times on Sunday, and said China was “uniquely positioned to act as a neutral mediator between a western-supported Ukraine and Russia” to end the war.

“Unpalatable as some in the west may find the idea, it is time to offer the Russian leader an off-ramp with China’s help,” Mr Wang wrote.

US officials were sceptical about the proposal given China’s ties to Russia and its spreading of misinformation related to the war.

The US, UK and the European Union have imposed sweeping, unprecedented sanctions against Russia and banned its energy imports, while providing billions of dollars of military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Individually and together they have appealed to China, Gulf nations and others that have failed to condemn the Russian invasion to join in isolating Russia from the global economy.

Beijing, a key trading partner of Russia, has refused to call Russia’s actions an invasion, although China’s president Xi Jinping last week did call for “maximum restraint” in Ukraine after a virtual meeting with German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Xi also expressed concern about the impact of sanctions on global finance, energy supplies, transportation and supply chains, amid growing signs that western sanctions are limiting China’s ability to buy Russian oil.

However, Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the state-backed Chinese Global Times newspaper, said on Twitter: “If Sullivan thinks he can persuade China to participate in sanctions against Russia, he will be disappointed.”

Washington and the G7 advanced economies on Friday ratcheted up pressure on Russia by calling for revoking its “most favoured nation” trade status, which would allow them to jack up tariffs on Russian goods.

Trade made up about 46 per cent of Russia’s economy in 2020, much of that with China, its biggest export destination.

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The two, Richard Kwame Asare, 76, and Kojo Tetteh, 74, are both professional blacksmiths and residents of Pakro near Adawso in the Akuapem North Municipality of the Eastern Region.

The police, based on intelligence, clamped down on their activities and have so far retrieved six locally manufactured pistols and eight single barrel guns.

According to the Eastern Regional Police PRO, DSP Ebenezer Tetteh, the police are on a manhunt for persons who have bought some weapons from the suspects.

He said the suspects will be charged for possession of firearms and put before the court to face the full rigours of the law.

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“We are pursuing the persons who have benefited from this criminal venture. Very soon, we will zero in on some of these persons who have benefited from this criminal venture, that is, persons who have bought locally manufactured pistols and these types of guns from these persons,” DSP Tetteh said.

Police sources indicate this was at about 4:45 pm on Sunday, July 11, 2021, when a 23-year-old lady of Nigerian descent came to visit the said inmate.

She is said to have come to the charge office with two packs of Papaye labeled fast food to be served on a robbery remand prisoner in cells.

When the food was carefully inspected by the duty officer on duty, a locally manufactured pistol with one cartridge was found concealed in one of the packs with the food covering it.

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Unfortunately, the lady managed to flee the scene. There are, however, strenuous efforts underway to trace and arrest the lady.

Information gathered indicated that on June 21, 2021, at about 3:00 am, the Adeiso Police Command gathered intelligence that there was illegal sand winning ongoing at Okaikrom community near Adeiso.

Police dispatched a team to the area and met some tipper trucks and two payloaders winning sand.

The tipper truck drivers and the payloader operators sped off on seeing the Police but the Police managed to arrest suspect Klutse Kofi who was in charge of Mitsubishi Pickup with registration number GE 7191-19.

A search conducted in the Pickup led to the retrieval of four Pump Action guns with 78 live cartridges.

The Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command confirmed the arrest to Starr News.

He said the suspect told Police that the weapons belonged to Sammertide Construction and Sand Winning Company.

He said the suspect has been detained with the four Pump Action guns retained at the Station.

This is happening on the back of an attack on the mining site by some armed men.

On June 15, 2021, at about 2:00 pm, the first complainant, Osae Kwame, was returning from his farm to Adeiso town to buy food for his farm labourers.

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But he met the accused persons who were in a convoy of three pick-up vehicles and a Jeep vehicle with registration number GS 9835-19. They stopped by him, handcuffed and abducted him into one of the Pick-Up vehicles and drove him to Tank Akuraa, a farming community near Adeiso.

Police upon receipt of distress calls about the incident rushed to the village and rescued him but the accused persons sped off from the scene and invaded the Summertide Company sand-winning site at Obeng Yaw village also near Adeiso amidst sporadic firing of gunshots.

The second complainant, Alhassan Zakari, was shot in the left leg during the indiscriminate firing of gunshots.

They violently arrested five persons at the site, whisked them into their vehicles, and drove away to an unknown location.

The owner of the site alleged he later detected that the accused persons stole Ghc96,000 at the site during the gun violence.

The five persons arrested by the accused persons were later rescued by Kyebi Police after the wireless message was activated by police.

At about 4:20 pm, the accused persons were arrested by the Adeiso Police.

A search conducted in a Jeep vehicle belonging to Nana Barfuor Sarpong, who claimed to be National Security Operative, detected one Ak47 assault rifle, one pistol, and three spent shells which were retrieved by the Police.

The victims -Alhassan Zakaria and Bright Apama, who sustained gunshot wounds on their legs, were receiving treatment at the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional CID has taken over the case.

Accused persons granted Bail

The Koforidua Circuit Court admitted the five accused persons including Akyem Abuakwa chief who claim to be a National Security Operative to bail in the sum of 200,000 cedis with two sureties.

The accused persons are Nana Barfuor Sarpong, Nana Barima Twum Tarbiade II, both sub-chiefs at Akyem Abuakwa.

The rest are Jonathan Martey ,Eric Yaw Obeng ,Victor Ahenkora Koranteng and others at large .

They were put before the court on Friday, June 19, 2021, on seven charges which are; conspiracy to commit a crime with kidnapping, Kidnapping, causing unlawful harm, stealing, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, possession of firearm and ammunition

The case has been adjourned to 19th July 2021.

The Prosecuting Officer Cyril Boateng Keteku, Assistant State Attorney explained to the court that the first complainant in the case, Osae Kwame, 59, is a farmer while the second complainant Alhassan Zakari, 39, is also a farmer.

The third complainant, Samuel Astu Forson, is Chief of Adeiso and Executive Officer of Summertide sand winning company.

He said the accused persons are Nana Baffuor Sarpong who claimed to be National Security Personnel attached to Forestry Commission as training Coordinator and timber monitoring officer.

The second accused person, Nana Barima Twum Tabirade, claimed to be the boundary Chief of all Akyem lands. The third accused person, Jonathan Martey, is a driver to Nana Barfuor, the fourth accused person, Eric Yaw Obeng, claimed to be an aide to Nana Barfuor, while the fifth accused person, Victor Ahenkora Koranteng, claimed to be an Immigration Officer.

The other accused persons are at large.

Police sources say the Chalie Swat team received information on December 17, 2020, that a group of men had in their possession firearms and ammunition and were offering them for sale.

The police team, led by DSP Oti Prempeh, proceeded to the Achimota area where suspects Emmanuel Abusah Yao, 38, and Dokpor, driver, 31, were met on board an unidentified taxi cab.

The police team feigned interest in the transaction. The suspects claimed they had all calibre of weapons for sale to their customers within Accra metropolis.

The suspects scheduled December 18, 2020, for the buyers to come for any calibre they wanted to buy.

At about 0800 hours the same day, the suspects contacted the police that their supplier was ready to supply the weapons to them at Alajo.

The police team laid surveillance on suspect Yao who met suspect Suleman Yussif, 37, at Alajo behind the Presbyterian Church.

Suspect Abdul Samed Yussif a.k.a Matata, 40, a trader, came with his unregistered motorbike and brought a bag containing an unregistered Taruss pistol and offered same for sale.

The police arrested all the suspects in the cause of the transaction.

A search conducted in the bag of suspect Abdul Samed Yussif @ Matata revealed 17 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 59 rounds of M16 ammunition, 38 rounds of AK 47 assault rifle ammunition and 58 rounds of G3 ammunition.

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Nothing incriminating was found on suspects Yao and Sulayman. When searches were conducted at the places of abode of all the suspects, 3 rounds of 9 mm ammunition were found in the room of suspect Yussif @Matata at Nima.

Nothing was, however, found in the house of the others.

During interrogations, it came to light that suspects Yao and Yusuf were all L/ Cpls stationed at Visibility headquarters, Accra.

The weapon and the ammunition have been retained with the suspects also detained.

Addressing the media ahead of the 2020 general elections, CID Director COP, Ken Yeboah said upon a close examination, the weapons turned out to be gas guns.

“Investigation is still ongoing on the 436 pistols that were intercepted at Tema port. Initially, six persons were arrested but at the moment we are holding on to one person.

“We have examined the weapons and they are gas pistols,” he stated.

The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) confirmed the seizure of the pistols together with 26 packs of 50 pieces of ammunition and pepper spray at Tema port last month.

A statement issued by the Authority on October 13, stated that a 20 footer container which harboured the cargo that had illegally imported the goods from Turkey into Ghana had been impounded at the Tema Port.

A gas pistol is a non-lethal weapon that is mostly used for self-defence and other purposes.

It typically looks like the traditional handgun but it is made to fire only tear gas cartridges within the range of four to five metres depending on the caliber.

Commenting on the news, security expert Colonel (Retired) Festus Aboagye said the police must come clean on the category of guns.

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He said the revelation opens the Service to needless criticisms because then it suggests that those who were at the harbour when the container was impounded did a shoddy job.

Colonel Aboagye said even the gas pistols can injure people and it must be investigated what they are meant for especially with elections around the corner.

The regional police command has intercepted two pump-action weapons and 100 rounds of AK 47 ammunition in a dawn robbery operation on a bank at Lashibi.

The facts are that on October 16, 2020, around 2:00 am, some unidentified armed men numbering about six attacked and robbed a bank at Lashibi.

In the process, the robbers fired into the vault lock, chiselled the wall to the vault to gain access and stole from the safe.

However, gunshots from the scene attracted a police patrol team who moved in that direction. The robbers, realising the police approaching, managed to escape amidst gunhots.

A search at the scene led to the retrieval of an electric cutter, chisel, harmer, 11 live 9mm ammunition, and one round of spent ammunition.

An extension of Police search within the enclave led to the arrest of two suspects Prince Ankrah and Albert Buckson.

They were found in a parked taxi cab with the engine on few meters from the scene and were suspected to be on surveillance linked to the robbery.

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Reinforcement patrol teams to the robbery scene also intercepted an urvan bus suspected to be linked to the same robbery but its occupants on seeing the police escaped. 

It was in the urvan bus that the police retrieved the two pump action guns and about 100 rounds of live AK47 ammunition.

Currently, the two suspects and the three private security details, who were on duty at the time of the incident, are all being detained to assist in police investigations

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr, has revealed the mastermind behind the images of the weapons mentioned by the government supposedly meant to overthrow the government.

He said the pictures of weapons which were circulated to the media did not come from the security operatives.

Speaking on Accra based Peace FM, monitored by Adomonline.com, the ace journalist said the pictures were circulated by a nurse at Citadel Hospital at Alajo.

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The motive, he noted, was to promote skepticism to prove that indeed it was not a coup.

“These pictures circulating on social media was taken by a certain nurse who works at the health facility. She gave them to a journalist and the journalist put them out to reinforce the skepticism and so that was the purpose.

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“The security has put nothing out there in terms of pictorial. It was a deliberate and calculated agenda. It helped the agenda that there is no case,” he disclosed.

Government on Monday announced a planned attack on the Jubilee House had been detected and foiled by a combined team of security operatives.

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The planned attack was intended to destabilise the country, government said in a statement.

The said operation, according to a statement from the Information Ministry, took place on Thursday, September 19, 2019.

Listen to Kweku Baako above:

Source: Adomonline.com|Dorcas Abedu-Kennedy

General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has described the alleged coup plot against the Presidency as peddling falsehood.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosi Sen show Wednesday, General Mosquito, as he is affectionately called, said nobody will ever attempt a coup in the country, adding that, those days are over.

To him, there is no iota of truth in the claims by the State that the suspects were plotting to overthrow the government.

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“Can these fake ‘alavanyo pistols’ face the Ghana Army? I think Akufo-Addo doesn’t trust our military. When did illegal manufacturing of weapons equaled coup d’etat? New Patriotic Party can be serious than this.

“If these types of weapons can overthrow a government, then common scissors can do the same job. They just lack confidence in the military,” he said.

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“Government should know that we are matured minds,” he added.

General Mosquito believes government’s move is a diversionary tactic from the many corruption acts that has plagued the country.

“Government is only trivializing serious national security issue with this false coup attempt claim. Ghana has become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world due to this false claim of a coup attempt” he stressed.

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The three suspects, who have been arrested, have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture arms and ammunition without lawful authority, possession of explosives and firearms without lawful authority and manufacture of firearms without lawful authority.

Listen to Asiedu Nketia in audio above:

Source: Adomonline.com | Dorcas Abedu-Kennedy

According to police sources, the deceased, together with two other personnel, were on duty at the Kumbungu police checkpoint and signaled an ash saloon car to stop while approaching the checkpoint around 10:45pm on Tuesday.

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“Four armed men, all dressed in military camouflage wearing face masks and boots, suddenly got down from the car and shot at the deceased killing her instantly.

 “The other policewoman in her attempt to take cover stumbled and fell and her weapon together with that of the deceased were taken by the robbers. The third officer, who had then taken cover, fired at the [suspected] robbers but the [suspected] robbers managed to escape with the two weapons,” the police report said.

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The body, after an inspection by the Regional Commander and other officers at the crime scene, has been sent to the Tamale Teaching Hospital mortuary with investigations ongoing.

Source: Adomonline.com | Adom News | Illiasu Abdul Rauf

The death of the army captain (who was on Monday posthumously promoted to the rank of Major by President Akufo-Addo), has sparked national outrage and over 40 suspects have been arrested so far, awaiting trial.

Some of the objects retrieved were cement blocks, stones, pieces of stick, wood, some of which appear to be drenched in blood.

According to the police, the items, and many others which have not been recovered, were used to beat Major Mahama to death.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has already recounted how a snail seller allegedly raised false alarm, suggesting that Major Mahama was an armed robber after spotting a sidearm on the soldier.

The snail seller had reportedly telephoned the Assembly Member for the area, William Baah, who in turn purportedly organized people in the town to attack the soldier, resulting in his untimely demise.

The police later confirmed that the pistol which the soldier was carrying had been retrieved after it had gone missing during the attack.

Major Mahama will be given a state burial on Friday as ordered by President Akufo-Addo, and a monument is expected to be erected in his honour.

The president also announced packages for the family of the deceased, including a GH¢500,000 Education Trust Fund for his children; and made a personal donation of GH¢50,000 when he visited the family at Burma Camp in Accra.

In the morning of May 29, the soldier was said to have gone on what sources say was his ‘usual’ jogging and on the way, it is claimed, he came across some women, who assumed he was an armed robber because he had a gun tucked at the back of his trousers.

According to some accounts, the women called the assemblyman and informed him that they had seen a man with a gun and were convinced that he was one of the many armed robbers who had been terrorizing residents of the area.

The assemblyman allegedly then called two of his associates and quickly moved straight to the area where the major was seen jogging and he (assemblyman) claimed the soldier then opened fire on them.

He claimed he ran away leaving the two associates who had accompanied him and proceeded to the police station to report the incident, further claiming that by the time the police arrived at the scene, the Major had been lynched.

The deceased family has said that all they want is for justice to prevail for the departed soldier while the military hierarchy has promised never to retaliate but rather would ensure that the investigations were thoroughly done.

Initially, about 120 residents were picked up following the lynching of the soldier and the number has been pruned to over 40, although more arrests are being made.