Averting armed conflicts through seizures

When in April 2018, the Imo State Police Command under Mr. Chris Ezike said it had recovered a total of 168 guns, 99 cartridges, 2,323 ammunition and 25 empty magazines from unauthorized persons in the state, a number of persons believed that criminals had to a large extent been neutralized in the state, at least for the next quarter.

Ezike, at the time, said that the arms recovery exercise by the police had not only led to a reduction in the number of light and small but dangerous weapons in circulation in the state, but had equally led to a reduction in crime of various dimensions such as kidnapping, armed robbery, cult related violence and brigandage.

“Firearms are facilitators of violence and the mop up of illegal arms will no doubt restore peace to our communities and keep them safe and secure”, he stated. Unfortunately, it was election season and the expected respite was not to be as criminal elements working for themselves or higher ulterior interests had within the period put machinery in place to import and stockpile arms and equip themselves with military and paramilitary gears to further their criminal enterprise.

New Telegraph correspondent also gathered that the FOU Zone C under Olusemire, spends weeks monitoring and isolating certain haulage trucks that trigger their red flag, and when sufficient indications of complicity have been established, the suspicious cargo is flagged, intercepted and screened with meticulous expertise. And it was on one of such occasions that field operatives of FOU Zone C last week intercepted an Enugu bound lorry stacked with questionable cargo including 4,375 live ammunitions and two 8-round Magnum Data pump action rifles made in Italy.

The service also seized 200 military camouflage vests, 430 bags of rice valued at N9 million; 1,160 bottles of codeine and 300 blister packs of Tramadol.

New Telegraph, November 29, 2018

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