The Benue Security outfit known as ‘Benue State Community Volunteer Guards has arrested a 29-year-old artisan for owning an illegal firearm.
The artisan was arrested at the Wadata area of Makurdi, the capital city on December 26 at about 8:pm while trying to escape arrest by the operatives of BSCVG.
According to the Commander, Benue State Volunteer Guards, Capt Ayomi Ajovbi (retd) who paraded the suspect on Saturday said he (the suspect) had threatened to shoot the operatives of BSCVG who had gone to arrest a group of persons in the neighbourhood who were taking a substance suspected to be weed aka Indian hemp.
Ajobi said, “Our men who were working on a tip-off had gone to the hideout of a group of people who were said to be taking a substance known as Indian hemp at Wadata.
“In the process, the suspect who brandished a gun threatened to shoot our men and the area became tense following the aggression of the suspect demanding that they be freed.
“The suspect later ran into a nearby shop while being pursued only for a gun to drop. In an attempt to shoot, luck ran out of him when one of the operatives swooped on him and pinned him down before support came from others and he was arrested.
The commander of BSVG said the suspect who he described as a cultist from his behaviour and actions would be handed to the relevant authority for further investigation and prosecution.
He however warned that anyone out to cause trouble in the state would not go free as his operatives were everywhere to complement the efforts of other security agencies in tackling crime.
The suspect, Ochoepu, who spoke to journalists, however, said he was not the owner of the gun that fell from him before he was apprehended.
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