The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted and uncovered two 40ft containers and vehicles loaded with dangerous arms and live ammunition at the Ports Terminal and Multi Services Limited (PTML) and Tin Can Island port in Lagos and Ogun State enroute Southeast region of the country.
The acting Controller General of Custom (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this, yesterday, while displaying the items in the containers and vehicles to journalists at the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A office in Ikeja, Lagos.
Adeniyi said the containers were intercepted on July 5, after thorough physical examinations were conducted by a joint operation with the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Security (DSS), the National Drug Law Enforcement and Administration (NDLEA) and the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU).
He said examination of the seized container at PTML revealed the concealment of 10 dangerous arms and various rounds of live ammunition inside plastic drums.
Adeniyi said other items found in the container are three new pump action rifles and one new unit of an armed rifle, six new different makes of pistols, one new millennium G2 pistol, one new sarsilmaz SAR-9X pistol, one new Lugger Security-9 pistol, one new Taurus Banbridge G3C pistol, one new SCCY CPX-2 pistol, one new Taurus (63 pistol), 14 empty magazines and 442 rounds of live ammunition.
They included: six different makes of pistols, two Sar9 Sarsilmaz pistols, one Ruger American pistol, three Taurus G3c – Bainbridge pistols, 12 different makes of rifles, five Rz17hd Rifles, one Gamo rifle, five Pump Action rifles, one Rz17 Tactical rifle, 10 packets of cartridges, two packets of 9mm ammunition, 100 rounds of 9mm Winchester ammunition, one carton of frontier cartridges and two packets of Buckshot ammunition.
Adeniyi said the clearing agent, one Shokunbi Olanrewaju of Shooler Global International Ltd and Joseph Nwadiodor, who were expected to take delivery of the containers are currently detained as suspects in connection with the seizure.
The CGC also revealed that officers of the Joint Border Patrol Team Sector 2, during a routine patrol along Owode/Ajilete Axis of Ogun State on July 12, intercepted an unregistered Toyota Camry loaded with six sacks of charcoal, which was used to conceal three pump action rifles with 174 live cartridges.
He said the driver of the vehicle, who knew the content he was conveying vis-a-vis the attendant consequences of his action before the law, jumped into the bush and escaped arrest.
“In summary, a total of 31 rifles were intercepted within the first two weeks of July 2023. Investigation into the seizures is inconclusive. The outcome of our investigations together with the seizures would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for further investigation and prosecution,” he said.
According to the CGC, illicit arms obtained by non-state actors have boosted the proliferation of small arms and ammunition across the country, which he said, accounted for the increase in violent kidnappings, robberies, and mass killings in society.
Adeniyi said the Service has re-strategised its operations and re-injected new tactics to tackle the economic and security menace caused by recalcitrant importers and their agents.
He also noted that the Service’s human resources and logistics are collectively harnessed to combat and prevent economic sabotage.
