The Kogi state government has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kogi State Command, for recovering and handing over weapons including 874 cartridges, 35 dane guns and five pistols to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCOSALW).

Speaking to journalists after the handover of the recovered arms and ammunition at the Kogi State NDLEA Command in Lokoja, the State Security Adviser, Commander Jerry Omodara, commended the NDLEA for the recovery, describing it as a significant step in efforts to combat crime and criminality in the state.

Omodara said the recovery demonstrates that the NDLEA’s operations extended beyond drug trafficking, noting that the circulation of arms and ammunition posed a threat to society.

He said security agencies had continued to recover weapons from criminal elements during operations in forests, adding that some bandits had been neutralised while others were surrendering their weapons.

“Bandits are now talking to us to surrender their arms. That is better for the society,” he said.

He warned criminals operating in Kogi State, including bandits, kidnappers, highway robbers, thieves and cultists, to desist from criminal activities, saying security agencies would continue to pursue them.

The Kogi State NDLEA Commander, Umar Yahuza, said the command had seized more than 10 tonnes of illicit drugs since late last year, adding that many suspects were currently standing trial at the Federal High Court in Lokoja.

Yahuza said the command’s operations were not limited to drug seizures, explaining that its personnel also recovered arms, ammunition and other incriminating items in the course of their operations.

He noted some of the weapons were recovered from drug dealers, particularly marijuana cultivators who, according to him, acquired arms to confront security personnel.

Yahuza warned drug dealers who acquire arms to resist security personnel that such weapons would not prevent their arrest, stressing that NDLEA personnel were specially trained to overcome such resistance.

He called on members of the public to support security agencies by providing useful information and refraining from assisting criminal elements.

Yahuza commended the Kogi State Government under Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, for supporting security agencies in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the Arms Control Agency one of the officials present at the event, Lt. O.K. Olagunju (rtd.) commended the NDLEA for its efforts in recovering the arms and ammunition.