Troops arrest suspected gunrunner, arms manufacturer in Nasarawa

• Boko Haram insurgency not over yet, says UN 

Troops of the Nigerian Army on security operations on Akwanga highway in Nasarawa State have arrested a suspected gunrunner, Mohammed Bello.The suspect was arrested on Wednesday in an Opel Vectra saloon car with fabricated guns while heading to Saminaka to link up with his gang leader, Damina Saminaka.

In a statement, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Sani Usman said during preliminary interrogation, Bello claimed to have purchase the weapons for N30,000 from a blacksmith and gun fabricator named Dan Asabe Audu, who resides at Angbo village in Wamba Local Government Area of the state.

Determined to get to the root of the matter, the troops went to the village where they found out that Audu has been in the business of illegal arms manufacturing for criminals for quite sometime. They found a complete arms factory with equipment and the products at various stages of production.

“Specifically, the troops recovered three locally fabricated guns, 20 others at various stages of production, seven units of 9mm empty cases, one 9mm blank ammunition, two drilling machine, one power generating set and three mobile telephone handsets.

“The suspects would soon be handed over to the relevant security agency for further investigation and prosecution,” Gen. Usman said. He urged the public to provide useful information that will assist the security agencies in apprehending criminals.

Meanwhile, a Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Hajiya Amina Mohammed has said that the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast is not over yet and more investments are required to help military offensives with
equipment.

During a working visit to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State yesterday at the Government House in Maiduguri, Amina said the UN was facing a number of challenges in providing humanitarian interventions and assistance to 2.8 million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

“Certainly, more can be done and that is why we are here in Borno State. We are going to address the challenges of accessing the IDPs to save their lives.“How we deal with maintaining the crisis towards integrating the displaced persons into their communities was determined by government’s investments to help the military fight insurgency,” she said.

Governor Shettima thanked the UN for its support towards returning the displaced persons to their communities in Monguno, Damasak, Gubio, Gwoza, Damboa, Nganzai, Mafa, Konduga an Kaga.