General Elections: IGP returns recovered weapons to arms agency

•Reaffirms commitment to continually partner NCCSALW for achievement of Constitutional mandate

As the preparations for the general elections heat up, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba on Thursday handed over a large cache of illegal arms and ammunition recovered by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) across the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).

The assorted weapons involved include 265 automatic rifles, 146 pump action guns, 1,909 locally fabricated pistols, 1,500 locally made single barrel guns; 98 locally made double barrel guns, 46 General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs); 16 locally made rocket launchers, 2 locally made Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns, and 7 Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).

The rests are 2,358 assorted calibres of ammunition and 1,057 assorted cartridges respectively

Speaking at the brief handing over ceremony held at the Forces Headquarters, Abuja the IGP stated that the exercise was part of the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force, as a lead agency in internal security management, to curb the threat of the proliferation of illegal Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) trafficking within the country.

The Police boss explained with delight that the Nigeria Police Force under his leadership had been evaluating and re-evaluating its operational strategies while strengthening institutional capacity in relation to the generation of actionable intelligence and the conduct of special operations directed at proactively checkmating the menace of arms proliferation.

He directed Commissioners of Police in charge of State Police Commands and their supervisory Assistant Inspectors-General of Police including Heads of Tactical Units of the Force to aggressively sustain the mop-up exercise in order to actualize the mandate of the Federal Government on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country.

The Police boss flaked by the Police Management Team re-affirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force and his assurance that the Nigeria Police Force would continue to partner with the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) as both institutions strive to achieve the mandate of the Federal Government on the control of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country.

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