Linus Oota, Lafia
Operation Whirl Stroke of the Nigerian Army in charge of Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa states, said that it has recovered 37 arms and 389 ammunition from criminals in Nasarawa State.
Leader of the command, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, stated this while briefing newsmen in Lafia on the activities of the command.
He said that most of the arms and ammunition were recovered from a graveyard in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. According to him, the arrested suspects have been handed over to the police, while some are still with them for more intelligence gathering.
A part of briefing read: “During the period under review, I’m glad to inform you that we recorded modest success, the operation covers four local government areas of the state, Toto, Obi, Doma, and Awe local governments,” he said. “We recovered 37 different rifles in the state, nine AK47, two jittery rifles, 20 locally made rifles, one clarion 5.56 Israeli rifle gun, one machine gun and three pistols.
“The recovered 5.56 Israeli rifle gun is not found in the Nigerian Army. As a Major General in the Nigerian Army, this is the first time I’m seeing this type of gun and we are investigating on how it was imported into the country because even the Nigerian army does not have it.
“In addition to that, we recovered 389 ammunition, while 11 suspects were apprehended and many arm bandits were killed in the course of the operations and our command is still trailing those who escaped.”
Giving a breakdown of their activities during the period under review, Sector 3 Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke in Nasarawa State, Navy Lt. Emmanuel Igwe said the operation took place in different locations of the state based on intelligence report.
According to him, the first operation took place in Tunga, Awe Local Government Area on March 9, the second, on March 14, in Toto LGA, where four Egbila militias were arrested with arms and ammunition. The third operation was on March 16, 21 through 23 in Doma Local Government, where arms and ammunition were recovered.
“The operation on March 22, took us to a graveyard in Doma, where two AK47 were recovered,” he said. “The other operations took place in Obi Local Government on March 24 and April 7, where arms and ammunition were equally recovered.”
They promised to do their best to free Nasarawa State from the hands of criminals in order to make the state safe for all residents.