Skip to main content

470 guns seized at Lagos port


THE Federal Government is set to meet Turkish diplomats today over the spate of illegal importation of riffles from Turkey to Nigeria.
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Comptroller-General (CG) Col. Hameed Ali (retd) said this when he briefed reporters over the seizure of another 470 rifles at Tin-Can Island port in Lagos.
A meeting between the leadership of Customs and the Turkish Ambassador in Nigeria will hold today as part of efforts to fish out those directly or remotely connected with the importation.
It was learnt that the new container, in which 470 rifles was found, belongs to the same importer of the 1,100 rifles seized at the port few days ago.
Col. Ali said the Customs Service was sad to announce that in spite of their previous efforts, officers of the service at the Tin-Can Island port intercepted the 470 rifles shipped into the country from Turkey.

The importer of the deadly cargo, the CGC said, was Great James Oil and Gas Ltd. A vessel, MV Arkas Africa, owned by Hull Blyth, was used in the illegal shipment of the guns.
The importer, Col. Ali said, used the elbow plumbing plastic he declared  in his bill of lading as a decoy to deceive the service before the container No. CMAU189817/8 was subjected to 100 per cent examination by his officers and discovered the 470 guns that were concealed inside the container.
The guns, concealed in a 20-foot container, were seized by the Area Comptroller Tin-Can Island Customs Command Mr. Bashar Yusuf.
Ali said: “Following increase in the number of arms seizures in recent times, the Customs Area Comptroller of Tin-Can Island port ordered a detailed profile of all imports, especially those from the same source with previous seizures.
“The profile of containers from Turkey eventually narrowed down to one 2@ft container No. CMAU189817/8.  The terminal operator was consequently directed to quarantine the flagged container for stricter analysis. It was later transferred to the enforcement unit, where 100 per cent examination revealed 470 pump action rifles as against elbow plumbing plastics on its bill of lading.
“The discovery brings to a total of 2,671 rifles seized within the last eight months of this year.
“While the audacity of these criminals to think that they can succeed in smuggling these dangerous weapons into the country successfully remains worrisome, the consolation is that the new Nigerian Customs Service is now responsive and capable of meeting the challenge posed by these criminals.
“This is what the present government requires of all citizens. We must rise up and remain vigilant to deal decisively with the enemies of this nation.
•Some of the 470 Pump Action rifles seized at the Lagos Port…yesterday PHOTOS: OLUWAKEMI DAUDA
“As our sea ports become increasingly impenetrable, we suspect they may want to try other entry points. Let me assure Nigerians that the Service is presently at critical apart following my directive to all Customs Area Comptrollers yesterday. We will do all in our power to further secure this country.”
Reiterating his warning that any Customs officer involved in the release of suspected containers would henceforth be arrested, paraded the way the police parade suspected criminals and charge to court for prosecution, Ali said: “The policy of reward for good deeds and punishment for those who compromise will continue in the service under my leadership.

“Since this container belongs to the same importer of the 1100 rifles, the ongoing investigation will be reinvigorated to fish out all those directly or remotely connected with these dangerous importations.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DEFECTIONS: Why Saraki, Dogara Others Must Heed Sen. Ibrahim's Call by Comrade Nwokoma Ndubuisi M.

The gale of defections in the National Assembly last week was followed by an advice from no one else than Sen. Abu Ibrahim that the Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara and others in the fold of the All Progressives Congress APC that are still masquerading in the party should resign their membership of the party. This call which also implies that they resign their positions as leaders of the various arms of the National Assembly is yet to be complied with by those concerned as at the time of writing this piece Whatever their reasons for still staying put in the party may be, the fact of the matter is that their continued stay in the party has become a sore which must be extricated from the body.  As I watched through the proceedings of the defections on national television, I wept for the country for producing such leaders that lack morality despite all the party has given them politically which they ordin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rivers Governmnet, PDP Disagree Over $280 million Looan

The Rivers State Government and the Peoples Democratic Party in the state are currently at loggerheads over the request by the state Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for a $280m loan for water and sanitation projects. While the state PDP said that the latest request for loan by the state government was unnecessary due to the resources accruing to the state through the federal allocation and internally generated revenue, the government said it was not true that the funds were to be used for 2015 elections. The state House of Assembly had on Monday endorsed Amaechi’s request for loan for water supply and sanitation projects. But the state PDP, in a statement, signed by the Special Adviser to its Chairman, Mr. Jerry Needam, said the request for loan was aimed at punishing the governor’s successor in 2015. The party called on members of the House of Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the African Development Bank and the World Bank not to honour the loan re...
Post a Comment
Read more

2019: Northern youths kick as Northwest APC lawmakers endorse Buhari

The leadership of the Arewa Youth Forum on Monday said President Muhammadu Buhari does not deserve any endorsement for the 2019 presidency. Reacting to a purported endorsement by some serving All Progressives Congress’s lawmakers from the Northwest in Kaduna, the AYF’s National President, Alhaji Gambo Gujungu, said Buhari was not fit to return as president in 2019. The AYF argued that with the killing spree all over the country, especially in the North, Buhari should serve his mandatory four years term and quit the stage for another Northerner. Gujungu noted that one sour point about President Buhari’s 2019 ambition was his claim that the killings across the country were being carried out by “desperate politicians”, yet he had not arrested even a single suspect. The AYF president, therefore, said Nigerians should blame the president for the attacks on innocent citizens. The AYF boss who spoke to our correspondent on phone on Monday, said the President’s cl...
Post a Comment
Read more