This was contained in a statement issued by Force Public Relations Officer Moshood Jimoh. The IGP warned all persons in possession of such weapons illegally to surrender them to avoid facing the full wrath of the law if caught, as a team has been constituted to embark on a mop up of the designated weapons.
According to the statement the recovery order covered “all prohibited firearms, ammunitions and weapons in the possession of all suspected militias, bandits, vigilante groups, neighborhood watch and other groups or individual(s) or bodies bearing prohibited firearms and ammunition, illegal weapons and lethal devices whether locally fabricated, modified or otherwise fashioned to kill or that can cause harm or injury to persons or that can cause panic, fear, apprehension, security breach, breach of peace or that can cause threat to law and order anywhere in the country.” the IGP listed 19 different types of prohibited weapons that are not expected to be in unauthorised hands and which the government through the Police wants to retrieve. These include military grade weaponry such as ballistic ordinances, missile and explosives launching equipment, machine guns and machine pistols.
Against the backdrop of the general state of insecurity in the county today IGP Idris’ initiative is commendable, in the light of the simple logic that with less pervasiveness of firearms in unauthorized hands the level of violent crimes and wanton killings in the society would reduce.
Hence while the Police action may be coming a bit late in the day it is better late than never. Just as the syndrome of illegal firearms across the country may have predated his tenure, his bold attempt to tackle the menace should attract support from all and sundry as everyone’s safety is involved in the matter.
Ordinarily the possession of firearms is possible in the country if due process is followed through the Police. This window for acquisition of firearms has been utilized by well-meaning Nigerians to acquire firearms that fall within approved specifications. It is however common knowledge that the country is also awash with illegal arms which are in the hands of all sorts of questionable characters, who deploy such for the serial acts of mayhem in various parts of the country.
Meanwhile just as the task is a difficult one, the requirements for success in the assignment go beyond the ordinary capacity of the Police alone but depend critically on the quantum of support they get from the general society in terms of information and intelligence.
This is because illegal possession of firearms is never a virtue which the culprit will likely advertise in public. In the light of that the Police can only progress as far and as much as it obtains critical leads about the custodians of these prohibited weapons.
The onus therefore lies both ways. Firstly is Police angle which is to work out ways and means to facilitate voluntary supply of leads and intelligence by members of the public that will aid investigations into the sources and locations of these contraband items. On the other hand is the issue of the civic.
It is responsibility of every citizen to assist the Police with relevant information that will lead to the recovery of illegal arms from unauthorized hands. In this respect the Police should not see the task as its own exclusive responsibility but that of every stakeholder in the safety and security of the citizenry. That is why the Police should engage the military and other relevant agencies in this onerous task.
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