Operatives of the Division of State Services and products, DSS, have shot two suspected gunrunners and arrested two others all through an operation alongside the Bekwarra-Ogoja axis of Move River State’s Northern Senatorial District.
The 4 suspects have been reportedly tracked from northern Nigeria via Benue State into Move River State whilst allegedly transporting unlawful firearms.
Two of the suspects have been shot whilst making an attempt to evade arrest, whilst the opposite two have been apprehended.
The operation used to be geared toward intercepting the alleged unlawful motion of palms into the state.
Reacting to the improvement, Governor Bassey Otu, represented by means of his deputy, Dr Peter Odey, vowed that his management would deal decisively with any individual concerned within the unlawful motion of palms into the state.
Odey, who spoke all through the parade of the suspects and the show of the recovered guns, warned towards makes an attempt to show Move River right into a theatre of violence, insisting that his management would now not compromise the state’s peace and safety.
“The peace of Move River State is non-negotiable. No political ambition, private pastime or desperation for energy is definitely worth the lifetime of any citizen.
“We will be able to now not permit any individual, irrespective of standing, political association or connections, to import violence into our state or flip our communities into killing fields,” he mentioned.
The deputy governor disclosed that initial investigations instructed that the motion of the guns could be related to political actions.
He warned that the firearms might be used to intimidate political combatants, threaten communities, disrupt lawful political actions and endanger blameless voters in the event that they fell into the improper fingers.
“Palms of this nature, if positioned within the improper fingers, might be used to intimidate political combatants, terrorise communities, disrupt lawful political actions and inflict irreversible hurt on blameless voters,” Odey mentioned.
He added that the arrested suspects can be charged to courtroom as investigations persisted to determine the supply of the guns, determine their alleged sponsors and decide their meant recipients.
Otu reiterated that no one used to be above the regulation, caution that anybody discovered culpable would face the total penalties of the regulation.