By Polycarp Auta
Troops of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), maintaining the peace in Plateau and environs, have detained two persons over alleged gunrunning in the state and recovered some weapons from them.
The Media and Information Officer of OPSH, Maj. Samson Zhakom, disclosed this to newsmen in Jos on Saturday.
Zhakom said that the suspected criminals were caught in Bokkos Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that troops of OPSH had some days ago caught and detained five alleged gunrunners in Bayameni Community of Jos North LGA.
”Barely 72 hours ago, troops caught five notorious gunrunners and recovered some automatic weapons with about 6,000 rounds of assorted rounds of ammunition at Bayameni on Bauchi Road in Jos North LGA.
”We conducted follow up operations in Bokkos Town on September 18 and troops busted another criminal syndicate while they were finalising transactions for the sale of arms and ammunition worth N5 million.
”The suspects, Matawal Bitrus and Thomas Benedict, were apprehended at Banana Island Hotel, Bokkos,” he said.
He further said that two AK-47 Rifles, one automatic pistol and three AK-47 magazines were recovered from them.
Zhakom, who identified the proliferation of firearms as one of the major enablers of criminal activities in the state, said that OPSH had initiated stringent measures to deal with the situation.
He appealed to residents to support the military and other security agencies in tackling all forms of criminality in the state. (NAN)
