Nigerian police recover 3,980 rifles, others ahead of general elections

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali, on Thursday supervised the handing over of 3,980 arms of different calibres, 2,358 ammunition, 1,057 cartridges to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).

According to a police report, arms handed 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, two locally made Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns and seven Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).
Similarly, 2,358 assorted calibres of ammunition and 1,057 assorted cartridges were equally handed over to the NCCSALW, with barely a week to the general elections.

Speaking during the handover, the IGP stressed 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 noted that the Nigeria Police Force 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.

Alkali therefore 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 actualise the mandate of the Federal Government on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
He re-affirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force 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.