By Chinedum Philip
The Rivers State police command, in the early hours of Thursday, intercepted a cache of arms and ammunition at a hideout in Rumuji, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, and in the process arrested three men suspected to be unrepentant militants uninterested in the federal government's amnesty offer.
The amnesty deal between the federal government and Niger Delta militants takes effect from today. The weapons recovered by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) include 33 old AK-47 riffles, with 26 of them brand new, hundreds of ammunition, 11 unopened boxes of magazine and one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG).
A police source explained that two of the suspects were arrested in Port Harcourt, and they provided information that led to the arrest of the third suspect named Tamunokro Princewill and the recovery of the arms and ammunition in Emohua.
Even though Azubuko Joel Udah, Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone 6, was not forthcoming with information to the press on the matter, sources close to the Police alleged that those arrested were members of Asari Dokubo's Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF).
This information was corroborated by one Prince Wisdom Amachree, seen at the Rivers Police headquarters, who claimed to be Asari's second in command. He said he was the informant that tipped the Police to make the arrests, while alleging that those arms were part of weapons including riffles, GPMGs and grenades that Asari was amassing in his bid to declare war for Niger Delta secession from the Nigerian state.
Amachree, whose nickname is General Adekunle, said he accepted the amnesty offer of government and is leading 199 other disenchanted members of the Asari gang to surrender their arms and partake in the amnesty deal. The informant said their disenchantment with Asari for not "carrying them along," as well as his plot to dismember Nigeria, motivated them to take action against him.
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