"And of these weapons collected, 96,007 were in an obsolete state and unsuitable for use in the armed forces, having been destroyed", said this Thursday the general commander of the National Police of Angola (PNA), general commissioner Arnaldo Manuel Carlos, when he presided over the act of replacing weapons of war held by private security companies, in Luanda.
The senior PNA officer considered that the process, which began 15 years ago, was based on the need to stop the proliferation of weapons of war, "taking into account their negative impact on public security".
Considering that private security companies and the self-protection system play a fundamental role in supporting forces in guaranteeing public security, "it was necessary to regularize their functioning by defining, by law, the specific organic weapons for the exercise of their activities", he indicated.
He highlighted, in his intervention, the emergence, on the Angolan market, of nine companies licensed to import and sell defense weapons in ammunition, noting that these "created the necessary assumptions" for the replacement of weapons of war held by private security companies.
The Chief of Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), army general Altino dos Santos, also intervened on the occasion, reaffirming the availability and involvement of the FAA in the disarmament of the civilian population.
"I would like to reaffirm the FAA's full availability in continuing joint actions with the PNA, within the scope of the commission, aiming to disarm and hold civil and criminal liability for all citizens who, despite appeals from the competent authorities, persist in illegal possession of firearms or in its commercialization", he stressed.
The act of replacing weapons of war held by private security and self-protection system companies and returning them to the FAA took place at the Reaction and Patrol Unit of the Luanda Provincial Command.
