Military recovers 706 weapons from bandits in North West – Official
Story from Ibraheem Hamza MUHAMMAD
Air Vice Marshal Haruna Umar Mohammed (rtd) has disclosed that his office has received 706 weapons recovered by the military from bandits in the North West.
The coordinator of North West, National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) AVM HU Mohammed (rtd) made the disclosure when Force Commander, Operation Hadarin Daji, Major General Uwem Bassey handed over the weapons in Sokoto.
The coordinator while receiving the weapons urged the military to sustain the tempo in order to decisively curtail the activities of criminal elements.
“I encourage you all to step up the tide in ensuring that we recover all firearms from the society, knowing we are moving towards the election period and we want everybody to be on the same page.
“I am confident that more weapons would be recovered from the criminal elements as the general public and military will continue to collaborate in the fight against possession of unlawful firearms,” said Mohammed.
While handing over the weapons, Major General Uwem Bassey, who is also the General Officer Commanding 8 Division, Sokoto said that the weapons were recovered from different clearance operations in Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states respectively.
He explained that the operations were meant to get rid of bandits and other criminal elements across the North Western states.
“The weapons comprised of 203 AK-47 rifles, 4 automated fabricated rifles, 7 G3 rifles, 1 general purpose machine gun, ( GPMG) and 3 sub-machine guns.
“Others are 1 light machine gun, 4 FN rifles, 410 dane guns, 71 locally made pistols, 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), an empty canister and 1pump action,” he said.
The operation commander thanked citizens who always provide credible information that led to the success of the recovery of the weapons.
He solicited more information to enable troops to bring the menace to an end, adding that decurity is the business of all citizens.
General Bassey further urged media practitioners to always have national security in their minds while doing their jobs.
