Officers of the Benue State Police Command on stop and search duty, at the early hours of Monday, arrested a middle aged man, Salondo Viashima, in Makurdi, the state capital, with an AK-47 rifle and nine rounds of live ammunition.

Briefing journalists on the arrest, Acting Commissioner of Police in the state, Femi Oyeleye, said the suspect was arrested on the ever-busy Makurdi-Lafia road.

Represented by the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Superintendent, SP, Daniel Ezeala, he said: “At the early hours of yesterday, Police officers on stop and search duty along the Makurdi-Lafia road spotted an ash coloured Toyota Camry with registration number LSD 941 AA bearing green leaves on its bonnet.

He said: “The car which was heading towards Makurdi main town with three male occupants was stopped for routine checks, and when the driver was questioned he said they were going for a burial ceremony