Photo: 706 Riffles Recovered From Bandits In Sokoto

The 8 Division of the Nigeria Army, Sokoto, on Monday, handed over 706 assorted riffles recovered from bandits to the National Centre for The Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

At a brief ceremony at the Giginya Barrack, Sokoto, its General Commanding Officer, Major General Uwem Bassey, said the recoveries were part of the ongoing clearance operation code named “Operation Hadarin Daji”.

According to him, the operation which covered Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Kebbi states, was meant to get rid of bandits and other criminal elements from these states and recover their weapons.

“And we are making headways because we had cleared Bakura Hill, Gundumi forest and other bandits hideouts in Jibia among others. And today we are handing over the weapons we recovered from those operations,” he said

He stated that the operation involved all armed Forces, Police and DSS and it was a continuous one because the enemies were mobiles.

“We will not get tired of pursuing them. We will continue to block their crossing points and ambush them,” he added.

He solicited for credible information to enable troops bring the menace to a stop.

Bassey further urged media practitioners to always have national security at the back of their minds while reporting events.

“Because without the well-being of Nigeria, you cannot practice your profession,” he said.

Receiving the items, the zonal Coordinator of the center in charge of the North-west zone, Air Vice Marshall Mohammed Haruna commended the operation for achieving this fist.

“This shows that the operation is making a tremendous success so we urge you to maintain the tempo,’ he said

He hoped to see arm-free general elections in 2023.