The Commissioner of Police in Abuja, Mr Sadiq Bello said the command had arrested 48 suspects for various crimes across the territory as well as recovered 78 illegal firearms from residents.

Bello made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on the arrests by operatives of the command on Tuesday in Abuja.

The CP gave the names of the suspects as; Samuel Jatau, 22, Emmanuel Friday, 28, Destiny Jacob, Kelvin Michael, Tersor Moga, Usama Tijjani, Samuel Ezra, Musa Mohammed Sani and Abdulkadir Muktar, among others.

He said that items recovered from the suspects include; eight locally-made pistols; 11 vehicles; three cutlasses; nine television sets; nine ammunition; three knives; one toy gun and one desktop monitor.

Bello said that the suspects who were arrested at various locations in the territory would be arraigned in court after investigations have been concluded.

The CP further disclosed that the command also recovered 78 illegal firearms from residents of the territory. He said the firearms include; 38 pump action guns; 13 Dane guns; one fabricated revolver pump action gun; 25 fabricated modified pump action guns; one double barrel gun and 222 cartridges.

He said,

“So far, the task force has recovered a total of 78 guns and 222 live cartridges that were voluntarily submitted. Most of the firearms were voluntarily surrendered to the Command Headquarters following robust media campaign and meetings with stakeholders in the five Police Area Commands of the FCT.“

He noted that the recoveries were in line with the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris directive on the recovery of illegal and prohibited firearms and ammunition in the country.

The commissioner said that the command would commence the mop-up of illegal and prohibited firearms and ammunition with the expiration of the period approved for their submission.

He said that the exercise would include raids cordon-and-search of premises, buildings or hideouts where these illegal and prohibited firearms were suspected to have been kept.

Bello said,

“As such, any individual or group of persons found in possession of any prohibited firearms will henceforth be arrested and prosecuted.”

He assured the general public that the command was fully committed to delivering its constitutional mandate to protect lives and property as well as maintain law and order.

He said,

“Members of the public are therefore urged to avail the command with information about crime and criminals, so as to help the Police serve them better.”

NAN