Police nab suspected gun runner

The Police Command in Bayelsa said on Tuesday that it had arrested a suspected gun runner who sold an AK 47 riffle for N500,000 and a Berrata pistol for N250,000.

DSP Asinim Butswat, Spokesperson of the command, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa that the suspect was arrested in a sting operation on June 16 at a hotel in Ekenfa 3, Yenagoa.

Butswat said that the operation was in furtherance of the directive by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to police commands to mop up arms and ammunition from unauthorised persons.

He said that police detectives lured the suspected notorious gun runner, who hails from Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state, under the guise of purchasing arms from him.

The spokesperson told NAN that the suspected gun runner was arrested with a 34-year-old man from Oboro Town in Delta, who usually introduced him to buyers.

“The suspect confessed that he usually travelled to the Republic of Cameroon to buy arms and ammunition in a community called Okwa, a border town with Bakassi Peninsula.

“He also admitted that he sells an AK 47 riffle for N550,000 and Berratta pistol for N250,000 in Nigeria,” Butswat said.

The police spokesperson said that efforts were underway to recover some of the guns the suspect earlier sold and arrest the buyers.

He also appealed to members of the public to provide to the police useful information that might lead to the recovery of arms from unauthorised persons.