The Senator representing Abia North, Orji Kalu, has disclosed that he previously traded in heavy weapons internationally, saying he sold arms to buyers who could afford them before abandoning the business at his parents’ insistence.

Kalu made the disclosure during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, while discussing his longstanding relationships with former and current South African leaders.

The former Abia State governor said his business interests previously extended beyond Nigeria, adding that he dealt in heavy weapons sold from one country to another.

When asked by the interviewer whether he was an arms dealer, Kalu responded, “Yes, so I stopped because my…”

Explaining why he abandoned the business, he said his parents asked him to quit.

“But my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he said.

Asked whether he sold weapons to people who intended to use them to kill others, Kalu dismissed the suggestion, insisting that his interest was making money.

“No, no, no, no, no, no. I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up it’s not my business,” he said.

The interviewer subsequently asked whether he supplied weapons to the African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

Kalu denied selling exclusively to the ANC, saying his customers included anyone willing to pay for the weapons.

“No, I was selling to anybody who wants to buy. If you have the money, you want to buy in D.R.C, I sell to you, you want to buy in Namibia, you want to buy…” he said.

When asked where he sourced the weapons, the senator declined to disclose the details, responding, “It’s only my business.”

The interviewer also raised concerns about the proliferation of small arms in Nigeria, questioning how Kalu’s description of his former business fitted into the country’s security challenges.

However, Kalu maintained that the weapons he dealt in were not small arms, explaining that they were heavy weapons traded between countries.

“No, no, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country,” he said.

Asked specifically whether he sold weapons to Libya under its late leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Kalu responded, “To anybody that had money to buy.”

When the interviewer suggested that this meant he had sold arms to Gaddafi, the senator replied, “May his soul rest in peace. He was a good man. If you have money to buy, when I was selling, I would sell to you.”

During the interview, Kalu also spoke about his relationships with successive South African leaders, tracing them to his friendship with the country’s former President, Nelson Mandela.

He said Mandela introduced him to several South African presidents, including Thabo Mbeki and current President Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to Kalu, Mandela once explained that Mbeki’s father had contributed more to the anti-apartheid struggle than Ramaphosa’s father, a factor he said influenced the African National Congress’s decision to choose Mbeki over Ramaphosa as his running mate.

Kalu said Mbeki subsequently introduced him to former President Jacob Zuma, with the relationships continuing through successive administrations. (Text, excluding headline: The PUNCH)