Plateau troops uncover illegal arms factories, arrest five suspects
Troops have discovered illegal weapon-making factories in Jos South LGA of Plateau state with five suspects arrested.
Security sources told Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication, that the suspects were arrested on Wednesday during a joint raid carried out by the ‘Quick Response Force (QRF) of Headquarters OPEP’ at Vom community of Plateau state.
The operation came after several weeks of intelligence gathering and secret surveillance by security operatives.
“According to the sources, the operation targeted two separate illegal arms manufacturing sites where the suspects were allegedly caught in the act of fabricating weapons for attacks and silent killings,” Makama said.
“Items recovered during the raid included nine fabricated AK-47 rifles, one locally made pistol, four empty magazines, seven skeleton AK-47 rifles and 10 rifle butts.
“Troops also recovered 36 empty shells of 7.62mm special ammunition, four revolver engines, 14 recoiling springs, six hand drilling machines, nine filing machines, four welding machines and other tools used for weapon fabrication.”
Security sources told the publication that the operation followed extensive intelligence efforts to track illegal arms networks and weapon-making groups operating in communities across Plateau state.
The suspects and the weapons recovered during the raid have been taken into custody for further investigation.
