Ghana seize guns and ammo headed to Nigeria

ACCRA Jan 11 - Ghanaian police have arrested five men and seized a soft-drinks distribution truck loaded with guns and ammunition believed to be heading to Nigeria, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.

Nigeria, Africa's top crude producer, is facing unprecedented civil unrest as sectarian violence and a nationwide protest against the removal of state fuel subsidies threaten the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Deputy Police Superintendant Cephas Arthur said police found double-barreled shotguns and boxes of ammunition beneath a false metal plate floor in the truck, which was searched in an Accra suburb on Tuesday after police received a tip-off.

He did not say how many guns were found.

Two of the arrested suspects were Nigerian nationals and the three others were Ghanaian, he said, adding the police believed the cargo was on its way to Nigeria.
Source:Reuters (Reporting by Clair MacDougall; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Richard Valdmanis)