Loading ...JOS, NIGERIA — A chilling window into the relentless cycle of violence plaguing Plateau State has been blown wide open following stunning confessions from arrested illegal weapon manufacturers. The suspects admitted they bypassed community defense efforts to sell sophisticated, locally fabricated firearms directly to lethal Fulani militias—simply because they were the highest bidders.
This explosive revelation was laid bare by Brigadier-General Selong Sule, Chief of Staff of the military’s task force, Operation Enduring Peace (OPSH), during a high-profile media engagement with senior defense correspondents in Jos. Speaking on behalf of Major-General Folusho Oyinlola, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division, Sule painted a grim picture of a thriving, underground war economy operating right under the nose of security agencies.
The Capitalist Machinery Behind the Carnage
For years, the narrative surrounding the bloody clashes on the Plateau has been framed around ethnic survival and communal self-defense. However, recent intelligence-driven crackdowns by OPSH troops have shattered that illusion, exposing a cold, profit-driven syndicate.
According to Brig.-Gen. Sule, troops recently busted and dismantled between three and four sophisticated, illegal gun-manufacturing factories hidden across the state. While the initial excuse from the arrested gunsmiths was “communal protection,” intense interrogation revealed a much darker reality.
“Some of the suspects claimed they manufactured weapons for members of their communities to defend themselves,” Sule disclosed to stunned journalists. “However, some later confessed that they also sold these weapons to Fulani militias because they paid more.”
This confession proves that for the local arms dealers, the ethnic and religious identities of the victims mattered less than the weight of the wallet. The very weapons used to pillage agrarian villages and terrorize travelers along Plateau corridors were forged locally and sold for blood money.
“A Major Challenge to Our Operations”
The military high command warned that the proliferation of these locally manufactured firearms now represents the single greatest threat to restoring total peace in the region. The sophistication of these local gunsmiths has advanced rapidly, matching or even outclassing standard security sidearms.
Sule emphasized that the justification of “self-defense” frequently used by civilians to hoard firearms has backfired catastrophically, creating a hyper-militarized society where non-state actors dictate the pace of life and death.
“The proliferation of firearms and the activities of illegal weapon manufacturers raise serious security concerns,” the Chief of Staff warned. “A weapon in the hands of a non-state actor is a major challenge to our operations. Once weapons circulate among civilians, they easily fall into the wrong hands.”
The 247ureports Takeaway: A Pipeline that Must Be Plugged
This development changes the game for security analysts tracking the Plateau crisis. It reveals that the attackers are not just smuggling weapons across porous borders; they are sourcing them directly from local foundries within the state.
As Operation Enduring Peace steps up its intelligence net to hunt down remaining underground factories, the question remains: how deep does this network go, and who are the wealthy financiers backing these militias to outbid local communities?
247ureports will continue to follow the money and the blood trail in Jos.
