Police burst illegal firearms manufacturing network, nab two suspects

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command says it has uncovered illegal firearms fabrication and maintenance networks and arrested two suspects.

The Police Public Relations Officer and Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Timfom John, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

John said the operatives of the command, acting on credible intelligence, raided the identified locations suspected to be used for the local fabrication, servicing, and repair of firearms within the Okobo and Eket axes of the state.

She said: “The success was achieved by operatives of the newly established Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), a strategic initiative of the Inspector-General of Police designed to aggressively tackle the menace of violent crimes and other emerging security threats.

”The operation, which was carried out in the early hours of Tuesday at about 0300hrs, yielded significant results.”

John added that during the raid, operatives recovered some exhibits including three English-made double-barrel guns, two English-made single-barrel guns, and 10 locally fabricated single-barrel guns.

Other items recovered include four iron bars used in gun fabrication, two gas cylinders, two toolboxes containing various fabricated implements and tools used for the construction, servicing, and repair of firearms.

She said that the recovered items strongly showed the existence of an illegal firearms fabrication and maintenance network operating within the affected areas.

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The police spokesperson said preliminary investigations were ongoing to establish the full extent of their involvement and to identify and apprehend other members of the criminal network.

She reiterated the command’s unwavering commitment to dismantling illegal arms manufacturing and trafficking syndicates in the state.

The PPRO urged members of the public to continue supporting the police by providing timely and credible information that would assist in preventing crime and apprehending offenders.

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