Police recover 2,754 firearms, extend deadline to April 30

The Nigeria Police Force on Monday said 12 states and the FCT commands and the Joint Enforcement Task Force have recovered at least 2,754 illegal and prohibited firearms from the public. Force spokesman ACP Jimoh Moshood, who made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on the ongoing recovery of prohibited firearms in Abuja on Monday, said […]

The Nigeria Police Force on Monday said 12 states and the FCT commands and the Joint Enforcement Task Force have recovered at least 2,754 illegal and prohibited firearms from the public.

Force spokesman ACP Jimoh Moshood, who made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on the ongoing recovery of prohibited firearms in Abuja on Monday, said the deadline had been extended to April 30, as against April 9.

He said firearms recovered by the task force constituted by the IGP included: 114 AK 47 rifles, 17 English made pistols, 27 pump action guns, 28 double barrel guns, 21 locally made revolver guns, Sub-machine guns (SMGs) and two General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG). Moshood added that some of the arms were returned voluntarily, while some were recovered by the team.

He noted that extension of the deadline for surrendering the prohibited firearms was based on impressive turnout recorded so far.

He warned that after the expiration of the deadline, the force would arrest and prosecute those found to have kept such arms. The spokesman said no one would be arrested for voluntarily returning firearms acquired illegally. He said the 12 states and FCT commands recorded successes since the beginning of the directive.

Giving a breakdown of the recoveries, Moshood said Abia State Police Command  recorded the highest number ‎with 1,380 firearms, followed by Lagos State with 200 categories of assorted weapons.

Others are, Katsina, 198; Rivers, 140; FCT, 78; Kaduna, 70; Kogi, 57; Borno, 32; Taraba, 56; Benue, 46; Nasarawa, 36: Adamawa, 14 and Delta, 12. The Joint Task Force at the Force headquarters, he said, recovered 435 categories of weapons, including, 114 AK47 rifles, 17 English pistols, 27 pump action guns and 28 single barrel guns.

Also recovered were 8 SMG rifles, Mark IV rifles, 8 locally made pistols, 38 Dane guns and 28 revolvers. 

He explained that the force was mopping up prohibited firearms in the country to ensure the safety of lives and property of Nigerians. (NAN)