Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State Police Command, yesterday, said that it uncovered and destroyed a gun factory in Mgbo community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state. This was disclosed by the state’s commissioner of police, Titus Larmode, while displaying a large catche of arms mopped up from various communities in the state before newsmen at the police headquarters in Abakaliki, the state capital.
He said that the exercise was in line with the directive issued by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to all police formations across the country for the mopping up of all unlicensed firearms in the possession of residents. On the list of the recovered ammunition were 18 AK-47 rifles, six G3 rifles, 21 pump-action rifles, six English-made double-barrel guns, 33 locally-made shotguns, 62 dane guns and some quantities of live ammunition and cartridges of different calibre, with the guns totalling 146.
He said the command set up a task force, headed by a deputy commissioner of police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department, Oyeyemi Oyediran, to carry out the task.
The task force, he said, recovered some of the arms from some persons in the state while others voluntarily surrendered the weapons.
“The police, acting on a tip-off, discovered an arms-making factory in Mgbo and, on getting there, the owner ran away but we recovered some of the locally-made arms there,” he said.
He commended those who voluntarily surrendered their arms and urged others still holding on to theirs to submit them immediately, promising that no punishment would be meted out to them.
“However, if they fail to do so and we catch them with the arms, they will be prosecuted. So, we encourage them to utilise this opportunity offered by the IGP to submit the arms,” he said.
The CP urged stakeholders and the general public to continue to cooperate with the police by giving useful information on persons or groups in possession of prohibited firearms.