The Police in Borno have asked residents of the state to surrender unlicensed firearms within three weeks, as part of renewed campaign to check circulation of arms and ammunition.
The Commissioner of Police , Mr Damian Chukwu, gave the order at a monthly police briefing on Thursday in Maiduguri.
Chukwu said that the order was sequel to the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, based on the recommendation of the just concluded critical stakeholders meeting.
He disclosed that the command had set up a Task Force to mop up illegal arms and ammunition in circulation.
The commissioner said that the summit attributed the increased rate of crimes to arms proliferation coupled with drug abuse and the porous borders of Borno with Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republics.
He noted that the measure was necessary in view of the spate of violent crimes and criminalities, adding that the exercise was aimed at sanitising and enhancing security in the society.
“The task force is saddled with the responsibility of curbing proliferation of illegal arms and ammunition.
“Dane guns may be possessed without approval of any known authority, single and double barrel short guns require licensing by the police to legalise their possession.
“While the above mentioned firearms may only be possessed by physically fit and proper persons for gaming purposes, however, now that the society is changing, bearers of such firearms use them for security purposes.
“Anybody found using firearms other than those mentioned above, has breached the law and, therefore, liable for arrest and prosecution,” he said.
Chukwu stressed that those in possession of Pump Action gun were doing so illegally and advised them to surrender such weapons to the nearest police office.
“In line with the directives of the IGP, they are given grace of 21 days to comply, thereafter, persons found with such arms will be confiscated and dealt with in accordance with laws of the land,” he said.
