From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, Aderemi Adeoye, yesterday, identified Onitsha Main Market as one of the outlets where dealers on firearms and ammunition allegedly operate within the southeast zone and warned residents of the state in possession of any prohibited firearms to surrender the weapons or risk jail terms if caught.
The CP, who made the disclosure while briefing reporters on achievements of the command within three months of his posting to the state, said the command would not spare anyone found with prohibited arms, regardless of his status or sponsor.
Answering questions from reporters on the possible source of the arms proliferation after he disclosed that the command recovered 26 firearms and arrested 30 insurgents within the period under review, he attributed the cause to porous borders, local blacksmiths, gunrunners and activities of some gunmen who killed security agents and snatched their rifles, among others.
He said: “It’s common knowledge we have porous borders where arms come in illegitimately, which security agencies are working tirelessly to plug. I can also tell you that weapons are sold in Onitsha main markets. From experience, I’ve personally recovered weapons in the 90s and I think it has even worsened.
“Again, during #EndSARS, there were a series of attacks in various police formations, military checkpoints, officers killed and their weapons stolen. We’re not even talking of local fabrication which Awka town is known for. Anyone we catch with illegal arms or manufacturing will get a long jail term without compromise. I don’t care about the person’s status or the backers,” he said.
The CP, however, noted that a period of amnesty has been declared by the IGP for those in possession of prohibited firearms to willingly surrender them to the police.
“Anyone complying with this order has nothing to fear as there won’t be arrest or prosecution for such submission of the weapons. All our Area Commanders and DPOs have been briefed of this directive and they won’t embarrass and intimidate those who voluntarily surrender their weapons. Once the IGP announces that the grace period is over, we’ll begin a massive clampdown that has never been witnessed in this part of the country before now,” he said.
While parading various other suspects, including five people caught vandalising iron railings at the second Niger Bridge, suspected cultists, including a young man nabbed with a service pistol on a motorcycle at the Nsugbe area, three people arrested for hijacking a commercial bus with 18 passengers on board and taking them to a hideout for ransom, among others.
He said the command will never rest on its oars to see that criminal elements are flushed out of the state.