Abuja – The Nigerian Police Force (NPF ) says it has recovered over 3,980 illegal small arms and light weapons from different parts of the country.
Force Public Relation Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.
He listed the arms recovered to include 265 automatic rifles; 146 pump action guns; 1,909 locally fabricated pistols; 1,500 locally made single barrel guns; 98 locally made double barrel guns; 46 General Purpose Machine Guns, GPMGs; 16 locally made rocket launchers; two locally made Anti-Aircraft, AA, guns; and 7 Rocket Propelled Grenades, RPGs.
Also recovered are 2,358 assorted calibres of ammunition and 1,057 assorted cartridges.
According to Adejobi, the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba has handed over the recovered arms to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).
He said the recovery activity was supervised by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.
Adejobi said the arms recovery activity was part of the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force, as a lead agency in internal security management, to curb the threat of the proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons trafficking within the country.
The statement quoted the IG-P as saying that the NPF under his leadership has been evaluating and re-evaluating its operational strategies.
Baba also explained that the NPF has been strengthening institutional capacity in relation to the generation of actionable intelligence and the conduct of special operations directed at proactively checkmating the menace of arms proliferation.
“He also directed Commissioners of Police in charge of State Police Commands and their supervisory Assistant Inspectors-General of Police including Heads of Tactical Units of the Force to aggressively sustain the mop-up exercise in order to actualise the mandate of the Federal Government on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
“The Inspector-General of Police re-affirmed the commitment of the NPF and his assurance that the Force will continue to partner with the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) as both institutions strive to achieve the mandate of the Federal Government on the control of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country,” the statement said.(vitalnewsngr.com)
