The Police Command in Bayelsa State said it has arrested a suspected gunrunner who sold an AK-47 riffle for N500,000 and a Berreta pistol for N250,000.

DSP Asinim Butswat, spokesperson of the Command, said, yesterday in Yenagoa, that the suspect was arrested in a sting operation on June 16 at a hotel in Ekenfa 3, Yenagoa.

Mr. Butswat said the operation was in furtherance of the directive by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to police commands to mop up arms and ammunition from unauthorised persons.

He said the Police recovered one AK-47 rifle and two Barreta pistols from the suspects, who sourced the arms from the Republic of Cameroon.

He said Police detectives lured the suspected notorious gunrunner, who hails from Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state, under the guise of purchasing arms from him.

The spokesperson said the suspect was arrested with a 34-year-old man from Oboro town in Delta, who usually introduced him to buyers.

“The suspect confessed that he usually travelled to the Republic of Cameroon to buy arms and ammunition in a community called Okwa, a border town with Bakassi Peninsula, and that he sells an AK-47 riffle for N550,000 and Berreta pistol for N250,000 in Nigeria,” Butswat added.