The Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe has handed over 3,000 recovered weapons to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) in Rivers State.
The weapons were presented to the centre on Monday. In a statement issued by Air Commodore Ewejide Akintunde on behalf of the national coordinator NCCSALW, he said the over 3,000 automatic and locally fabricated SALW were handed over to the centre by the commander, Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral A. Hassan, who represented the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) during the ceremony in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He said the assorted weapons handed over included, AK 47 rifles, FN rifles, Berretta rifles, G3 rifles, Pump Action rifles and various brands of pistols. Others include Sub-Machine Guns (SMG) and General-Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) as well as locally fabricated Single and Double-Barrel rifles, Pistols, SMGs and ammunition of various calibres.
In his remarks, the national coordinator NCCSALW, Major General A.M. Dikko (rtd) represented by the South-South zonal coordinator for the centre, Major General Martins Obot (Rtd) stressed that the takeover of the weapons was in fulfilment of part of the centre’s core functions of institutionalising SALW control at all levels of the polity.
Major General Obot commended the troops and leadership of the JTF for their resilience and huge successes recorded in curtailing criminal activities and recovery of numerous illicit weapons.
He thanked all stakeholders and law-abiding citizens especially those who have been helpful in providing actionable information leading to successful arms recovery and assured Nigerians that the NCCSALW remains determined in the performance of its duties.
