Authorities search for illegal firearms in Aweil town

Authorities in Aweil town started on Monday house to house search for illegal fire arms sparked by the recent rise in robberies.

Schools, businesses and public institutions were all closed to pave for the operation that got residents unaware.

The police spokesperson for Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, Capt. Guot Guot Akol told journalists on Tuesday that the operation is meant to curb proliferation of fire arms in the hands of civilians.

 “We did this operation for the good of the public as you know that crime has been on the rise especially at night, so we decided to do the search in 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,”  Guot said.

He said that some rogue security officers sell fire arms to citizens who are not trained.

 “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 hand by shooting instantly. We don’t need such incidents and we have to deal with such people,” Guot said.

However, the police spokesman did not divulge details on the number of illegal fire arms collected during the two-day search operation.

Aguot Malual , a mother of three children in Apada suburb of Aweil town where the search occurred said that her business was disrupted during the search operation conducted at her house.

Malual runs a local restaurant within her homestead.

 “I did not work the whole day because the police and soldiers blocked the roads leading to the market,” she said.