The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has confirmed the seizure
of 844 units of rifles and 112,500 pieces of live ammunition “illegally”
imported into the country.
Adewale Adeniyi, comptroller-general (CG) of customs, spoke
on Monday at a press conference in Port Harcourt command, Onne, Rivers state.
The comptroller-general’s briefing confirmed the
authenticity of a video on the seizure that circulated last week.
“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,” Adeniyi said.
“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:.
He listed the items seized as 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).
The customs CG said the rifles and ammunition were concealed
in various items such as doors, furniture, plumbing fittings, and leather bags,
noting that the duty-paid value of the container is N4,171,710,000.
Adeniyi said three suspects have been arrested and detained
in connection with the ammunition after customs secured a detention warrant
from a competent court.
He also said operatives, through collaboration and
intelligence, intercepted an 8×40-foot container in transit to a bonded
warehouse from Onne port on June 29.
The comptroller-general said 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.
Adeniyi said officers also seized two containers laden with
720 bales of used clothes valued at 144,000,000.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com