The Nigeria Police have smashed a gun running syndicate specialised in smuggling thousands of rifles and ammunition into the country from Libya and Burkina Faso through Benin Republic and Niger Republic.
This is as 38 suspected kidnappers and armed robbers have also been arrested from different parts of the North-central, North-east and North-west zones of the country.
Parading the suspects before journalists, Monday at the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office in Abuja, Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, said the suspects were arrested by police operatives attached to the Special Tactical Squad (STS) and Intelligence Response Team (IRT), in continuation of Operation Puff Adder.
He said 20 AK47 rifles, 11 dane guns, four pump action rifles, 10 automatic pistols, 6,000 live ammunition and two vehicles were recovered from the suspects.
The spokesperson disclosed that the syndicate conceals the weapons inside hide and skin, second hand clothing and yam flour.
Mba, who said the syndicate was found to also conceal weapons inside toys, urged members of the public to bear with the police when insisting on thorough checks on vehicles.
“When you see policemen checking items like that please don’t blame them,” he said.
Fielding questions from journalists, one of the suspects, who said his job was to prevent kidnap victims from escaping from his custody, confessed that he had killed several kidnap victims who could not pay ransom.
According to him, “If we kidnap someone and after two or three day his people cannot pay the ransom it is my job to kill the person to ensure they don’t escape from our custody.”
The spokesperson said the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigation.
