MARCH 29, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER 7 COMMENTS
Benue Police Command says it has intercepted more than 200 small arms in the state since the beginning of the year.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Alaribe Ejike, said this on Wednesday in Makurdi in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
He said the arms, which comprised locally made pistols, double-barrel guns, short knives, daggers and spears were intercepted during routine checks.
Ejike assured that the command was determined to end the spread of small arms in the state.
The spokesman said the command had instituted security checks across the state to ensure the safety of lives and property, adding that the efforts had started paying dividends.
He said, “We are already achieving much through our ‘stop and search’ duty patrols on vehicles.
“Also, the continuous raid on criminal hide outs in the state is paying off.”
He said some of the weapons were recovered during such raids on criminal hide-outs.
The PPRO said at a recent raid in Kanshio, 35 suspects were arrested, while five locally made pistols were recovered from the suspects.
He blamed the arms proliferation on cult groups in the state who he described as the worst offenders of the fire arms law.
Ejike said they were responsible for the exacerbation of the communal crises in Agboghuul village in Makurdi.
He said most of the culprits, who were arrested while burning people’s houses, confessed to being cultists.
The police spokesman warned those using small arms to cause disaffection within communities to desist from the act or face the wrath of the law.
SOURCE: The Punch, 29 March 2012. http://www.punchng.com/
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