By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa – Barely 72 hours to the April polls,  32 groups of repentant militants drawn from the various coastal communities in Bayelsa State, yesterday, surrendered 428 different guns to the police authorities.

Also submitted were 32 Improvised Explosion Devices, IED, and fetish paraphernalia.

Though the Federal Government’s amnesty to repentant militants had since expired and is now at the post amnesty stage, majority of the weapons surrendered were locally made dane guns, pistols, G3 rifles, FMC, battle axes, cutlasses, cartridges and torn military uniforms, among others.

The arms which were displayed at the state police command, it was learnt, were brought in from different parts of the state by the repentant militant leaders, who also want to enjoy the Federal Government’s amnesty.

The militant leaders, who said that they had shun violence and embraced the amnesty, said they were compelled to surrender their arms, having realized the sincerity of the Federal Government to the implementation of the programme.

Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Aliyu Musa, inspecting 428 high calibre guns surrendered by 32 militant groups in Yenagoa, Wednesday.

In his comment, the Chairman of the repentant groups, ‘General’ Julius Joseph, said their decision to submit arms and ammunition behind schedule of the amnesty programme was due to fear, adding that, “with our assessment of the on-going programme, the Federal Government had done well.

“We refused initially to surrender our arms because we doubted the Federal Government’s sincerity on the amnesty programme. But now we have decided to come out and surrender our arms on our own. It is not that we are tired but we want peace to reign in the region so that development can take place,” he added.

Receiving the arms, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Aliyu Musa, lauded their action and called on others  who are yet to lay down their arms to do so in their own interest and for the peace of the region.