Crime

BREAKING: 470 Pump Action Rifles From Turkey Seized At Lagos Seaport

Published

7 years ago

September 22, 2017

At least 470 pump action rifles from Turkey have been seized at the Lagos seaport, bringing the total number of rifles seized in Nigeria within the last eight months to 2671.

The “importer of this deadly cargo is Great James Oil and Gas Ltd, while the vessel is MV Arkas Africa owned by Hull Blyth,” Colonel Hammed Ali, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, said in a statement on Thursday.

He said Great James Oil and Gas Limited is the same importer who recently brought 1,100 rifles into the country. The weapons were seized about two weeks ago at the Lagos seaport.

“The ongoing investigation will be reinvigorated to fish out all those directly or remotely connected with these dangerous importers,” Colonel Ali said, adding that “I call on well-meaning Nigerians to support the Service by providing information that will help us perform even better”.

Detailing how the weapons were seized, he said: “Following increase in the number of arms seizures in recent times, the Customs Area Controller of Tincan Island Port ordered a detailed profile of all imports, especially those coming from the same source with previous seizures.

“The profile of containers from Turkey eventually narrowed down to one 20ft 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% examination revealed 470 pump action rifles as against elbow plumbing plastics on its bill of lading.

“Importer of this deadly cargo is Great James Oil and Gas Ltd, while the vessel is MV Arkas Africa owned by Hull Blyth. This discovery brings to a total of 2671 rifles seized within the last eight months of this year”.

-[SANA]