ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
No fewer than 25 AK-47 riffles, other arms and ammunition seized have been handed over to the Federal Government by the Bauchi state Police Command.
The arms and ammunition which were seized across Bauchi State between June, 2021 and February, 2023 were handed over to the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons under the Office of the National Seecurity Adviser.
Speaking while handing over the seized weapons to the Director, Operations of National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Chris Owolabi, on Tuesday at the Command’s Headquarters, the Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State, Umar Sanda, said some of them include: One locally made Sub-Machine Gun, one SMG and one locally made fabricated AK-47.
He said others are: 29 Rusted/unserviceable locally made P/cartridges, 27 Rusted/unserviceable locally made revolver, one English Barretta and one Magazine, two P/Barretta and one locally made dane gun.
The recovered mopped-up ammunition, according to him are: 874 7.6mm, 5,022 5.56mm, 113 9X19mm, 274 62.7mm, 177 38mm and eighty-seven blank.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is determined to stop the senseless bloodletting and insecurity occasioned by Small Arms & Light Weapons (SALW) in circulation within our communities by mopping up all illicit weapons; as well as control the proliferation of all weapons in the holdings of all arms bearing agencies/organizations in the country.
“It is in this vein that President Mohammadu Buhari GCFR, approved the establishment of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms & Light Weapons (NCClllll lol pSALW) in March 2021 to institutionalize SALW control at all levels of the polity; and to mainstream illicit SALW eradication efforts.
“I therefore urge all members of the public to support the Government in its efforts to eradicate illicit SALW in circulation and by extension, promote an illicit arms- free society,” he said.
Sanda said that a robust synergy and partnership with sister security agencies, local security outfits and other non-governmental organizations was cultivated in order to nip crimes of various degrees in the bud, and flush criminals out of the state.
He said that these successes recorded by the Command were made possible through information availed to the Bauchi State Police Command from members of the public, who partnered with us during the period under review; this was geared towards our desires and aspirations to enable a safe and secure environment for all residents of the State.
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According to him, the command has further recovered the mopped-up firearms and ammunitions from different individuals in various areas within and outside the state during the period under review.
The police poss said some suspects were arrested in connection to the recovered arms even though he did not give their numbers and identities, he however, said that “we’ve been arresting them and some of them have been charged to court.”
In a response, Owolabi said that the federal government will intensify efforts towards mopping up more weapons and ammunitions across the country.
He said: “It is not only in Bauchi state Command alone. Just three weeks ago, we made some recoveries in Owerri, Imo State in collaboration with the National Security and Civil Defence Corp. We do this with security agencies across the nation to recover these firearms.
“We do know that we have local blacksmiths producing these (arms) all over our communities and investigations are ongoing to identify these local blacksmiths across the country. We’re working with the Police, the DSS and other security agencies and we’re making progress. We’ll know where they’re making production and where they are taking them to,” he said.
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