The Rivers Police Command has recovered no fewer than 3,249 arms including ammunition and cartridges from a criminal hideout in a forest at Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of the state.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mustapha Dandaura, disclosed this on Monday in Port Harcourt while presenting the recovered arms before Gov. Nyesom Wike, Service Commanders and journalists.
According to him, the arms were recovered from a kidnap syndicate in Ogu/Bolo local government area, following credible intelligence.
The police commissioner revealed that the syndicate hid the arms underground in the forest.
He listed the recovered items as: one GPMG No. NN-07-150, two G-3 rifles with breech Nos. 81- 85234 and 69090978, and one SMG rifle No. 19855
Other are; one rocket launcher (RPG) rocket propelled grenade NW-07-150; five (5) Pump Action guns; 933 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition; 111 rounds of 5.56mm live ammunition; and 222 rounds of 9mm live ammunition.
Also recovered from the kidnappers’ hideout are; 909 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition; 74 rounds of .9mm live ammunition; 728 live cartridges; four (4) AK 47 magazines; two (2) G-3 magazines; and one (1) SMG magazine, bringing the total number of Ammunition/Cartridges were recovered to 3,249, Dandaura disclosed.
While leading the governor and service commanders on inspection of the recovered arms, Dandaura, noted that Wike’s administration has provided logistics that have helped the state’s security outfit, Operation Sting, to achieve notable successes.
He said that the Operation Sting, initiated by Wike, had sanitised the erstwhile troublesome East West Road, the Elele-Owerri Road and the Ogoni axis of the East West Road.
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Dandaura assured that the security agencies would continue to strive hard to protect lives and property in Rivers.
Governor Wike in his comments assured that his administration would continue to work towards keeping Rivers safe in line with his constitutional responsibility of protecting lives of all resident in the state.
He commended Operation Sting for its recent achievements.
The governor also commended security agencies in the state for collaborating with the State Government to check the activities of criminals.
He said: “I have made a vow that Rivers State must be safe. It is a duty that we are committed to carry out. We have no excuses to give.”
Wike noted that as the state government fought to protect the people of Rivers from Coronavirus, it would not relent in ensuring the security of lives and property.
He urged the media to also focus on the successes of the State Security Council in the area of securing lives in the state, adding that bursting the kidnap syndicate remained a major achievement by Operation Sting.
He said: “Coronavirus is a serious war. Then add this to the fight against insecurity and you understand that it is not easy for us. But we shall continue to work for the security and safety of our people.
“We don’t want anyone to politicise the issue of security. We also don’t want anyone to politicise the fight against Coronavirus,’’ he said.
