ABOUT 557 repentant cultists in Bodo and other communities in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State have surrendered their weapons to the police.
It was gathered the weapon surrender marked the end of a disarmament programme that began on December 3.
Commissioner of Police Joseph Mukan said the arms mop up was done in partnership with other security agencies.
According to him, a system had been set up to monitor the repentant cultists despite their decisions to submit their weapons.
He said: “It was a collective retrieval of arms and ammunition comprising the police and the Army. We are trying to see if they are genuinely repentant so they can be rehabilitated and pardoned. But we have to monitor them to be sure they have truly repented.
“We urge the youths to resist any temptation of returning to their old ways or face the law.”
Facilitator of the programme Rev. Abel Abulu harped on the need to take repentant youths through spiritual exercise as a post-disarmament programme.
He regretted that Bodo community was a flashpoint of violence, saying the youths were exposed to non-violence programmes to help reshape their minds and thinking.
