Customs hands over 3,897 seized arms, ammunition to NSA

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over 1,599 assorted rifles and 2,298 cartridges to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, an agency under the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

During the handover ceremony at the Federal Operations Unit Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said several suspects arrested concerning arms smuggling are currently facing prosecution in different courts.

He said the confiscated arms and ammunition were intercepted between 2018 and 2024 in Lagos and Rivers states.

He said a major seizure was in 2018 when customs operatives intercepted 440 firearms concealed in 516 bags of plaster of Paris (POP).

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He further disclosed that in May 2018, customs officials at the Tin Can Island Port intercepted 440 pump-action rifles concealed in a 20-foot container (PONU 210024/1) filled with plaster of Paris cement.

Sustained intelligence operations later led to the discovery of two additional containers (CMAU 189817/8 and GESU 255208/1) at the same port, concealing firearms within sanitary wares.

Adeniyi noted that forensic analysis of customs documentation and shipping records, combined with diplomatic engagement through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, enabled authorities to trace the source of the shipments to a purchasing company in Turkey.

National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, represented by the Director-General of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Rtd) Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, commended the Customs Service for its pivotal role in curbing the proliferation of illicit arms.

Ribadu recalled a significant arms burst in July 2024, when customs officers intercepted 844 rifles and 112,500 rounds of live ammunition at the Onne Port in Port Harcourt. The recovered weapons were promptly handed over to the appropriate authorities, and key suspects, including the masterminds, were apprehended.

He assured that the national centre would take all necessary measures, in line with international conventions and best practices, to remove these weapons from circulation permanently.