Police arrest three suspected gunrunners, recover arms, ammunition

The police in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria, have arrested three suspected gunrunners in the state.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson in the state who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said one of the suspects whom he described as “a major dealer” trading illegally on prohibited firearms in the state, was arrested after weeks of intensive surveillance by police operatives in the state.

Twenty-three automatic pump action guns and 625 live cartridges were recovered from the suspects, according to the police.

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The spokesperson said the three suspects were all arrested in Onitsha, the commercial hub of the state.

He did not reveal the identities of the suspects and when they were arrested.

The police are investigating the suspects, he said.

The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Aderemi Adeoye, has commended police operatives involved in the operation, Mr Ikenga said.

Mr Adeoye said the operation was ordered by the Inspector-General of Police, Adeolu Egbetokun, who also provided guidance throughout the operation.

Background

There have been frequent attacks lately in Anambra State and other parts of the South-east by gunmen said to be part of the Biafra agitation in the region.

Hundreds of people, including traditional rulers, government officials and security agencies, have been killed in such attacks.

A serving lawmaker in the state, for instance, was killed and then beheaded in May 2022.

The Nigerian government has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being behind the attacks in the region.

But the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.