The Police has seized several locally made guns and shut down the illegal manufacturing base in Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.
The Commissioner of the Cross River Police Command, Mr Sule Balarabe told journalists in Calabar, the state capital that the several accessories used for the manufacturing of arms and ammunition were recovered at the factory alongside seven locally made single and double-barrel guns.
Balarabe said; “through credible intelligence-led policing the men of Operation Restore Peace at Ogoja arrested two suspects in Kakwe Ablessang Village in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State, who specializes in the manufacturing of local arms.”
“They took my team to their manufacturing factory and recovered one double barrel gun, five live cartridges, seven locally made single barrel guns and other manufacturing accessories. The suspects confessed and will soon be charged in court,” he said.
Remain focused
According to him, the command in the previous year had security challenges such as flashes of violent campaigns by political thugs, defacing of campaign posters and billboards, attacks and counter-attacks on perceived political opponents, pockets of kidnapping armed robbery, which threatened the order and cohesion of the state.
Balarabe said that despite those challenges, “the command’s move against crime and criminality has remained unhindered, resolute and focused with the arrest of kidnap syndicates, recovery of small arms and ammunition through actionable intelligence, strategic raids and effective deployments around critical infrastructures.”
The Police Commissioner, who paraded 17 suspects arrested for various crimes, said that those apprehended had illegal firearms and ammunition as well as hard drugs and charms.
Balarabe further said that “the Anti-cultism and Kidnapping squad foiled the attempted kidnap of Governor Ben Ayade’s Commissioner, while the remains of a murder victim were recovered.”
He further attributed the successes recorded in the command to a “robust synergy with sister agencies, community and youth leaders, traditional institutions and good-spirited citizens across the state.”
On the ongoing political parties campaign in the state, Balarabe advised politicians to shun politics of bitterness, and embrace sportsmanship.
He urged parents, guardians and leaders, to persuade their children and wards against being used to foment trouble ahead of the February 25 election.
The Commissioner said, “I once again enjoin parents, guardians and leaders wielding various levels of authority to persuade their children, wards and followers against being used as detractors in the election process as there would be awful consequences and corresponding sanctions as prescribed by the extant laws of the land.”
While assuring the people of enhanced policing across the state, he urged citizens to remain law-abiding.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
