The police have said their undercover operatives are out to track the use of illegal arms and ammunition by politicians as the rescheduled general elections draw near.
Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the Force was aware of the possibility of violence before and after the elections, but that it had “mapped out a strategy that would mop up arms being circulated illegally by political parties” for the use by thugs loyal to them.
“Our plainclothes detectives are on the ground within parties to follow up and investigate any case of the use of arms,” he said.
It will be recalled that a November 2014 report by the Belgium-based International Crisis Organisation, titled: “Nigeria’s dangerous 2015 elections: Limiting the violence” raised the alarm over “the continuing influx and wide-scale availability of firearms, ranging from pistols to assault rifles” in the country.
“Nigerian elections are traditionally fiercely contested, but in 2015, risks of violence are particularly high,” the group said.
The ICG recommended in the report that the Nigerian Police and other security agencies should “improve security arrangements by training more personnel for election duties and strengthening capacity to gather information, monitor developments and analyse threats; strengthen ongoing efforts to curb the influx and availability of illegal arms…”
But Ojukwu said steps taken to track down such illegal arms had been extended to the country’s borders.
He said, “We have strengthened border patrol by creating a network and collaborating with other security agencies at the borders.
“We are not targeting only arms proliferation; we are focusing on ways violence can be perpetrated in this period.”
This is coming on the heels of Tuesday’s shootings and bombing near the campaign venue of the All Progressives Congress in Okrika, Rivers State. Ojukwu added that the police were also depending on informants at large gatherings such as markets who could give valuable information on movement of arms and ammunition.
“We have stepped up stop-and-search operations on roads and we recovered a large amount of arms recently through this means,” he said.
Recent reports have pointed to the fact that political parties’ thugs are making use of such illegal arms.
A few weeks ago, thugs shot at the campaign convoy of the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, and injured two persons. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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