Nigerian police recover large cache of illegal arms

Nigerian police said Monday that they have recovered a large cache of arms from unauthorized individuals following the recent order from the country's inspector-general of police.

"I can tell you authoritatively that in some states, the police have recovered a large cache of arms and some people have returned the arms they are holding to the police," national police spokesperson Emmanuel Ojukwu told local media.

"We appeal to people to return the arms because the arms should not be in the hands of non-state actors," he said, adding that the police would "investigate the circumstances under which they got the arms."

In February, Nigeria's police chief ordered state officers to embark on an intensive recovery of fire arms in the possession of unauthorized security outfits across the country ahead of the general elections in March.

The measure is in response to cases of reported political violence caused by the illegal use of arms by these unlawful outfits. Endi