Again, Army arrests gun runners, recovers weapons worth N5m in Plateau

The troops of the Operation Safe Haven from the Nigerian Army in Plateau State have again arrested two more gun runners while negotiating to sell ammunition amounting to N5 million in Bokkos Local Government Area of the State.

This came barely 72 hours after the troops arrested five notorious gun runners at Bayameni Community along Bauchi Road in Jos North Local Government Area of the State, leading to the recovery of automatic weapons and about 6,000 rounds of assorted ammunition.

In a statement issued at the weekend by Samson Zakhom, a major and the spokesman of the Operation Safe Haven, said the latest gun runners were arrested at a hotel in Bokkos Local Government Area of the State and were taken into custody.

Read also: Army arrests five gun runners, recovers ammunition in Plateau

The statement read, “Barely 72 hours after the arrest of 5 notorious gun runners leading to the recovery of automatic weapons and about 6,000 rounds of assorted ammunition at Bayameni along Bauchi Road in Jos North LGA of Plateau State on 17th September 2024, Operation Safe Haven conducted follow on operations in Bokkos Town, Bokkos LGA of Plateau State on 18 September 2024.

“During the intelligence-based sting operations, security agencies busted another criminal syndicate while finalizing transactions for sales of arms and ammunition amounting to Five Million Naira (N5,000,000.00) at Banana Island Hotel in Bokkos. Consequently, 2 notorious gun runners identified as Matawal Bitrus and Thomas Benedict were apprehended and the following automatic weapons were recovered: Two AK-47 Rifles; One Automatic Pistol; Two AK-47 magazines and One Baretta Pistol Magazine.

“The suspects have been taken into custody for interrogation to extract information to arrest other members of the gun running syndicate on the run. The latest arrest of gunrunners and recovery of arms and ammunition from both Jos North and Bokkos LGAs confirms the assertion that criminality is not defined by any ethno-religious boundary.”

The statement described criminality as a common enemy that must be jointly tackled to afford law-abiding citizens the freedom to carry out their socio-economic endeavours without fear.