Elechi grants 10-day amnesty to Ebonyi gun-runners

 *To set up Weapons Takeover C’ttee

By Dennis Agbo
ABAKALIKI—Recovering from the two-year Ezza/Ezillo communal war, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State has given all persons in possession of illegal weapons in the state 10 days to surrender them or face the wrath of the law.

Governor Elechi’s 10-day amnesty is coming on the heels of a strong allegation against a state lawmaker who allegedly agreed that he was in possession of 19 pieces of AK 47 rifles, but surrendered only two to the State Security Service still investigating the illegal possession.

Elechi in a special broadcast, yesterday, titled Surrender Illegal Arms and Ammunition, said if the present spate of arms procurement in the state was not halted and reversed, the state would witness unsecured future for the next generation.

“We have a high probability of unsecured future for the next generation. The situation where people live in fear, work in fear and in constant dread of terror being unleashed on them is a reversal of our avowed march to civilisation,” the governor said.

He noted that whereas the state government appreciated that many communities, in anticipation of violent engagement with their neighbours, traditionally procure dangerous weapons for use in emergency, resort to the use of such arms at the slightest provocation and in election campaigns was unacceptable.

“These are habits that the state government cannot condone,” he said

C’ttee members

Announcing the amnesty programme, Elechi said that between, yesterday, June 24  to Saturday, 26 June, the Commissioner for Border, Peace and Conflict Resolution will constitute in each local government area Weapons Takeover Committee, made up of the Divisional Police Officer, Representative of the Military, SSS and a traditional ruler.

He said the period of the weapon surrender would last for ten days, from Monday, 28 June to Wednesday, 7 July, adding that during the period, those in unauthorised possession of arms shall notify the Weapons Takeover committee through the DPO nearest to them.

According to him, “the Weapons Takeover Committee shall provide police escort to the point where the arms are located and assist the owners to bring same to the DPO and immediately acknowledge receipt in writing and simultaneously notify my office.”

The governor noted that thereafter, government shall take necessary steps to refund to the erstwhile owners of such arms the cost or a reasonable proportion of the cost of the weapons so received.

‘On my honour’

He said:  “I declare on my honour as the Chief Security Officer of the state that no action, legal or otherwise, shall be instituted against anybody who shall respond positively to this appeal, and nobody shall be molested within the 10 days the exercise will last.

“Anybody or community found to have continued to harbour illegal weapons will then face the wrath of the law.”

Elechi regretted that on the 2 October 2008, when he called on the warring families in Ezillo to surrender their arms at the nearest military formation, only few heeded the call, while majority failed, adding that the escalation of armed violence that followed soon after had, no doubt, left  deep sorrow and regret for those who failed to heed the warning.

He solicited the support and the co-operation of the people to make the state the most peaceful in the federation.

He added that the forthcoming local government election and all other elections in the state shall be conducted in an atmosphere of freedom, devoid of the use of dangerous weapons or any form of intimidation.