THE Ebonyi State Government on Monday said the Department of State Services had begun investigation into the alleged stocking of arms and ammunition in the popular Building Materials Market in Abakaliki.

Recall that the market was condoned off by security forces last Thursday, following information that arms and ammunition were brought into the market by some miscreants in the state.

Briefing newsmen at the end of an enlarged State Security Council meeting at the new Government House, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Commissioner for Internal Security and Border Peace, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha, said 9,000 live cartridges were recovered from the market.

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According to him, the owner of the shop where the arms were discovered has been arrested alongside other suspects.

On the issue of killings in the state by alleged cultists, the state Commissioner for Internal Security, Stanley Emegha, stated that 37 suspects had so far been arrested as the state government had promised a “special package” for anyone who will volunteer useful information that would lead to the arrest of more suspects behind the killings.

“The the shop owner has been arrested as 9,000 live cartridges were recovered,” he said.