Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has seized 844 units of rifles and 112,500 pieces of live ammunition “illegally” imported into the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that comptroller-general (CG) of customs, Adewale Adeniyi made the confirmation on Monday at a press conference in Port Harcourt command, Onne, Rivers state.
During the briefing, the comptroller confirmed the authenticity of a video about the seizure that went around last week.
Adeniyi said, “It was the case with this 1X40 foot container, MAEU165396, which originated from Turkey, and, based on a number of risk factors, became a subject of interest.”
“We had followed its sail across the continents, as we benefited immensely from credible information produced through our collaboration with the intelligence communities, both at the local, national, and international levels.”
“Working within our local structures, we followed diligently as the importer attempted to circumvent our procedure through the outlet of a private bond terminal.”
“Consequently, on Friday, 21 June 2024, the suspicious container was subjected to a thorough physical examination. The examination result revealed the following alarming contents:”
The comptroller noted that the items seized are 844 units of rifles, 112,500 pieces of live ammunition, 764 units of Tomahawk, Jojef Magnum black pump action rifles, 10 units of Verney Caron gunmakers Jojef Magnum silver pump action rifles, 50 units of Verney Caron gunmaker double barrel rifles, 20 units of Verney Caron gunmaker single barrel rifles, exclusive series, sterling high-quality live ammunition, and 34g-25 plastic shotgun shells (70mm).
According to Adeniyi, the rifles and ammunition were kept in various items like doors, furniture, plumbing fittings, and leather bags, noting that the duty-paid value of the container was N4,171,710,000.
Adeniyi added that operatives have arrested and detained three suspects in connection with the ammunition after customs secured a detention warrant from a competent court.
He further revealed that operatives, through collaborative work and intelligence, seized an 8×40-foot container in transit to a bonded warehouse from Onne port on June 29.
Advertisement
The comptroller-general revealed that items in the containers included 1,050,000 bottles of cough syrup with codeine (100 ml) and 3,500,000 tablets of trodol benzhexol tablets (5 ml) valued at N9,600,000,000.
In addition, Adeniyi noted that operatives also seized two containers laden with 720 bales of used clothes valued at 144,000,000.
