Some of the weapons ceased by the police
By Sunny A. David, Awka
Seventy two year old Benjamin Obi has been apprehended for allegedly running an illegal arms re- assembling plant at Uli, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
According to the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Garba Umar, who briefed journalists on the development, items recovered from him include, one Berretta pump action gun, eighty four assorted single and double barrel guns, ten live cartridges and other tools used in servicing guns.
Umar said the increasing rate of cult activities at the Uli-Ihiala axis may not be unconnected to the existence of the local arms plant in the area.
He urged residents in the area to always report illegal or suspicious activities in their localities to assist the police in its fight against criminality in the state just as he cautioned criminals to desist from the trade.
However the suspect, Mr. Obi of Umuoma Uli who was arrested alongside his three sons, Chukwudi, Tochukwu and Cheta, said he is a black smith and belongs to an association of hunters whose members repair their faulty guns in his workshop.
He claimed to also repair guns for vigilante groups and security men as against the charge that he does so for cultists and armed robbers.
One of his sons, Chukwudi, said he was a shoe seller in Nyanya area of Abuja but came home for the burial of one of their relations before he was arrested while Tochukwu claimed he was a welder elsewhere in Uli, only to be arrested when he returned from work and was taking his bath.