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Namibia declares gun amnesty till mid-November

Xinhua, September 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Namibian government declared an amnesty Friday to allow all those who have illegal firearms to surrender them to the police.

Namibia Police inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga told a media briefing in Windhoek that the amnesty will run until Nov. 18.

He said the police and the government are concerned with the proliferation of illegal firearms, ammunition and armaments discovered in recent months countrywide.

According to Ndeitunga, the police confiscated 560 illegal firearms between 2013 and 2015.

"This is of grave concern to the police and government as these dangerous weapons are out there in the public domain, posing an imminent threat to the safety and security of citizens," Ndeitunga said.

All those in possession of illegal firearms, he said, must surrender them to the nearest police officer in charge of any police station and will not be prosecuted.

This is the second time after Namibia attained independence in 1990 that a firearms amnesty has been declared.

In 1992, the government called on all those who had fought in the war on the side of the ruling Swapo Party and the South African Defense Forces to surrender their weapons. Endit