By Hou Akot Hou
Authorities in Aweil Town on Tuesday collected 79 firearms in a one-day surprise disarmament exercise.
Officers searched homes for illegal firearms nearly the whole day, leading to the closure of schools, businesses, and public institutions.
The firearms collected include 58 riffles, 8 PKMs and 8 pistols.
Northern Bahr El Ghazal state police spokesperson Captain Guot Guot Akol stated that the search is to curb firearm proliferation.
He said they held a two-day meeting with police Commissioner General Philip Madut, who was instructed that crimes are on the rise and there was a need to collect firearms.
“We had done this for the good of the public as you know that the crimes have been happening a lot, especially at night so we have decided to do the search of the arms in the houses and if we find that you have a private gun like a pistol and it is not authorized then we have to confiscate it,” he narrated.
Captain Guot stated that some individuals sell arms to untrained locals, and they intend to bring those dealers to face the law.
“There are others who sell the arms to the local civilians and when any problem arises within their vicinity, they just take the law into their hands by shooting instantaneously. We don’t need such incidents and we have to deal with such people,” he warned.
He declined to make a mention of the number of firearms they have impounded so far.
One resident Aguot Malual, a mother of three in Apada neighborhood, reported that her house was searched but the lockdown disrupted her business, where she cooks at a café owner’s restaurant.
“I did not go to work for the whole day in that the police and the security organs blocked the roads leading to the market. So, we were astonished enough” She said.
Some people welcomed the search, while others criticized it due to the disruption of businesses in Aweil for nearly a day on Tuesday.