On Thursday, a newspaper report detailed how Idowu Owohunwa, Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, paraded armed robbery suspects in the Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos.

According to this report, Omohunwa told pressmen of how policemen foiled a robbery attempt on Eko Bridge and recovered a unique pistol from the suspects.

The newspaper quoted the police boss as having said, “Two of those traffic robbers were apprehended and I must say, the most unique thing about this is not just the arrest but the recovery of this weapon from them. It is called Spyder Victor.

“This is strange. It is a unique weapon and we are working currently to get to the root of this.”

In the newspaper’s own words, “The gun, the first of its kind in Nigeria, was recovered from a suspected robber on Eko Bridge.”

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Its headline also read, ‘Police recover first gas gun in Nigeria in Lagos’.

CLAIM 1: Lagos police discover unique gas gun.

CLAIM 2: Discovered gas gun is first of its kind in Nigeria.

VERIFICATION: FIJ subjected the gadget to a search on Google and found that it was listed for purchase on Amazon, a global online marketplace, for a retail price of $104.95 (₦79,449.25).

The gadget is described as a Semi-Auto Paintball Marker made of plastic. Its barrel is made of aluminium.

It is used for recreation and is not intended to be lethal. The gadget also uses carbon dioxide (CO₂) or compressed air to fire out paintballs to a target; hence the term, ‘gas gun’.

FIJ went further to see if this type of weapon has been used in Nigeria in the past and we found several instances.

Again, we did a quick Google search and found at least seven locations in Lagos alone where fun-seekers can go paintballing.

Some of these locations include: Empire Sports Paintball, Lekki; LSP Paintball, Lekki; Xtreme Sports Paintball Arena, Victoria Island; Landmark Beach, Victoria Island; Bullseye Paintball, Lekki; Leisure Sports Paintball, Lekki; and Ziggies, Magodo Phase 2.

CONCLUSION: There is nothing unique about the gun discovered by the Lagos police and it is not the first of its kind in the country. Its nozzle, canister and barrel may have been detached to fool unsuspecting road users, but it does not have the lethal capacity to cause panic.

VERDICT: Owohunwa’s claim that the gun is a unique weapon is misleading. The newspaper’s claim that it is the first of its kind in Nigeria is false.