Barely 48 hours after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recorded a major seizure at Onne Port, Rivers State, the Murtala Muhammed Area Command of the Service has intercepted at Lagos airport rifles in a consignment with airway bill number 235-58737755, emanating from Turkey.
   
Addressing journalists yesterday at the command, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the total duty paid value of all the newly intercepted items are N1.6 billion, while analysis of this and similar recent seizures indicates that some unscrupulous Nigerians based in Turkey are purchasing, packaging and exporting these illicit arms to Nigeria. 
 
Both the Onne port and Lagos airport seizures originated from Turkey. He said the entire consignment was isolated for thorough examination after which it was established that four packages were used to conceal 55 pieces of unassembled jojef magnum (TOMAHAWK) semi-automatic shotgun, concealed using shower faucet. Adeniyi said a suspect is currently in custody in connection with the illicit arms importation and is assisting with ongoing investigation to uncover the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
   
The Customs boss also displayed some military and paramilitary accoutrements that were improperly imported without end users’ certificates with duty paid value of N1.3 billion.
   
He gave a breakdown of these items to include 148 pieces of drones, 172 pieces of ballistic vest, 15 pieces of ballistic plate, one piece of ballistic helmet, eight pieces of walkie talkies, 9,172 pieces of military and paramilitary badges, 20 pieces of camouflage uniforms, 100 pieces of camouflage vests, 172 pieces of camouflage caps and 120 pieces of binoculars.
   
The Customs boss said the seized illicit arms and the concealing items would be handed over to the Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, under the office of the National Security Adviser, for diligent investigation and prosecution.
   
The Arms Control Centre has already confirmed receiving the weapons intercepted by Customs on Monday and said it would destroy them after documentation has been completed. 
   
The Centre Coordinator, Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, a retired Deputy Inspector-General (DIG), hailed the NCS efforts for intercepting the cache of illicit arms, describing the seizure as a testament to Customs’ unwavering contributions to protect the country from the dangers posed by illicit arms.