Recover All illegal Arms IG orders Police

 

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered Commissioners of Police in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory to immediately recover all illicit arms, arrest and prosecute the owners of such weapons.

The directive in a statement release in Abuja on Sunday by force spokesman, Frank Mba was against the backdrop of the “deliberate arming and movement of political thugs and other criminal elements across the country.”

According the force statement, the directive was targeted at addressing the proliferation and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms in the country which is contrary to the provisions of Chapter F.28 LFN 2004 of the Firearms Act.

The statement titled, “Ahead of Edo and Ondo governorship elections, IG orders nationwide clampdown on the proliferation of prohibited firearms.”

It further disclosed that all state CPs had also been directed to immediately convene an enlightenment meeting of all vigilante groups and quasi-security outfits spread across the country in order to ensure that their activities were in conformity with the extant laws guiding their establishment and operations.

“The IGP, while observing that several civil groups – vigilantes, quasi-state and regional security outfits under various guises are arming themselves with prohibited firearms and weapons in contravention of the provisions of the Firearms Act, notes that the trend if unchecked, will pose a serious threat to national security,” the statement added.