Three residents of Maryland, USA, have been indicted over
allegations of exporting arms and ammunition to Nigeria.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the US
department of justice, the indictment was announced by Jonathan F. Lenzner,
acting US attorney for the district of Maryland; James R. Mancuso, special
agent in charge of homeland security investigations (HSI), Baltimore; and
Timothy Jones, special agent in charge of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco,
firearms and explosives (ATF), Baltimore field division.
The suspects — listed as 45-year-old Wilson Nuyila Tita of
Owings Mills, Maryland; 40-year-old Eric Fru Nji of Fort Washington, Maryland;
and
“A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging
three Maryland men for the federal charges of conspiracy, violation of the Arms
Export Control Act and the Export Reform Control Act, related to the export of
firearms and ammunition from the United States to Nigeria,” the statement
reads.
“According to the four-count indictment, from at least
November 2017 through July 19, 2019, the defendants conspired with each other
and with others to export from the United States to Nigeria defense articles
and items identified on the United States Munitions List (“USML”) and the
Commerce Control List (“CCL”) without first obtaining export licenses.
“The defendants also allegedly conspired to conceal from the
United States that those items were being shipped from the Port of Baltimore in
Maryland to Nigeria and at least one other location in Africa. The defendants
and their co-conspirators allegedly contributed funds for the purchase of
firearms, ammunition, reloading materials and other equipment for shipping
overseas.
“The indictment alleges that the defendants and their
co-conspirators communicated about their efforts and plans to ship weapons and
ammunitions using an on-line encrypted messaging application and code words in
order to conceal their activities.
“As detailed in the indictment, the defendants and other
conspirators concealed the firearms, ammunition, rifle scopes, and other items
in heavily wrapped packages and duffle bags, and inside sealed compressor
units, placing those items into a shipping container destined for Nigeria
without obtaining the requisite licenses from the U.S. Department of State and
the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“Further, as part of the conspiracy, one of the co-conspirators
allegedly caused the submission of electronic export information to the U.S.
government for the container which listed materially false information as to
the identity of the exporter and the intermediate and ultimate consignee, as
well as the ultimate destination of the container’s contents.
“Specifically, the indictment alleges that on January 17,
2019, the defendants and their co-conspirators exported, attempted to export,
or caused to be exported to Nigeria articles on the USML the export of which
was controlled under the Arms Export Control Act, without first having obtained
the required license or written approval from the U.S. Department of State,
specifically: 38 semi-automatic firearms; over 35,000 rounds of ammunition; and
44 magazines.
“On that same day, the defendants allegedly exported to
Nigeria one Bushnell Trophy Rifle Optic and one Burris AR Rifle Scope, the
export of which were controlled under the Commerce Control List, without first
having obtained the required license or written approval from the U.S.
Department of Commerce. Finally, the indictment alleges that the defendants
transported 28 firearms with obliterated serial numbers, including 18 rifles.”
If found guilty, the suspects will face “a mandatory
sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy; a maximum of 20
years in federal prison each for violating the Arms Export Control Act and for
violating the Export Control Reform Act; and a maximum of five years in federal
prison for transportation of a firearm with an obliterated serial number”.
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