His Royal Majesty, Air Vice Marshall Lucky Ararile (Rtd), the Ovie of Umiagwa-Abraka Kingdom in Delta, has urged the Federal Government to embark on general disarmament in the country.
Ararile made the call when the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Ikechukwu Aduba, visited him in Abraka on Friday. He identified the proliferation of small arms as one of the reasons for the rising wave of kidnapping and associated crimes in the society.
The traditional ruler said that the mop-up of the arms would stem the tide. According to him, more than seven million small arms are in circulation in the country. The availability of the weapons encouraged criminality, he said.
“Efforts must be made by the various levels of government to disarm the people in the country; this is most fundamental.’’ He said that information flow was vital in checking crimes and advised the government to strengthen the synergy with GSM communication outfits and employ other technologies to enable security agencies to fight crime.
“This is because the type of crimes we have today are sophisticated and should be addressed as such.’’ The monarch also underscored the need to create jobs for the teeming unemployed people in the country.