Okon Bassey in Uyo
Two suspected gunrunners in the Niger Delta region have been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force, Akwa Ibom State Command.
The suspects who were paraded wednesday at the state police headquarters in Ikot Akpan-abia, Uyo, were reportedly going to Bayelsa State to supply guns.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Cordelia Nwawe, said the suspects were arrested along Itu road in the Uyo metropolis.
She gave the names of the suspected gunrunners as Ezekiel Adie, 35, and Emmanuel Akanade, 28, all from Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State.
According to the police image maker, the two gunrunners have been under security watch for sometimes now, adding that the two suspected persons had been trading on locally made Berretta English pistol.
Confessing to the crime, one of the suspects, Adie, said they were travelling from Ogoja to supply the guns to their agent in Bayelsa State.
“We were coming from Ogoja when the police arrested us along Itu road. We were going to supply the gun to one of our agents in Bayelsa State at the rate of N100, 000 per gun,” Adie said.
According to him, the business of gunrunning was lucrative during elections period.
Nwawe also said the command on March 31, 2016, arrested one Emmanuel Nkanga from Oku Ikot Edung village in Uruan council area for illegal possession of two locally made revolver. Similarly, she said on March 25, the command also arrested an armed robber, Ubong John, and recovered one locally made pistol from him.
The state Commissioner of Police, Murtala Mani, said she had warned criminals to stay off the state as the place was longer conducive to them.
All the suspects, she added, would be charged to court as soon as the investigation is completed.
