The police in Oyo State, southwest Nigeria, have called on members of transport unions in the state to surrender all the unauthorised weapons in their custody at the police stations closest to them.
The state police commissioner, Adebowale Williams, said this on Thursday at the Park Management System Town Hall meeting in Ibadan, the state capital.
Williams said anyone of them who voluntarily surrenders their arms and ammunition will not be arrested or prosecuted.
He said, "Nobody is allowed to be with an unauthorised weapon. This includes daggers, guns, machetes, and criminal charms. Nobody has the power to move around with weapons, it's not allowed.”
"Surrender all the unauthorised weapons at the nearest police station; nothing will happen to you. Just drop and go before we will come for it ourselves. We have information on all the places the weapons are being hidden," he added.
Governor Seyi Makinde had dissolved the Park Management System (PMS) in the state, a development which made some members of the union hurl abuses at one of the governor's aides, Otunba Seye Famojuro in a video that recently went viral on social media.
Famojuro, a friend of the governor, was in charge of PMS in the state.
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force later raided Diamond Hotel, Alakia, Ibadan, Oyo State, belonging to the former chairman of PMS in the state, Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called Auxiliary and recovered some guns, ammunition and charms.
Some of the things recovered from Auxiliary’s place were 474 bullets, cutlasses and a huge amount of cash.
Auxiliary is still on the run.