There was palpable tension at the Tin Can Island Port recently when the Commissioner of Police in charge of Western Ports, Celestine Okoye last week Wednesday stormed the Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) over a suspected container bearing arms and ammunition.
Eye witnesses told Shipping Position Daily that the commissioner stormed the terminal around 6pm and demanded that five containers should be positioned for examination. The police was said to have suspected that the containers were carrying arms and ammunition.
Chairman of International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA) at Tin Can Chapter, Ojo Akintoye told our correspondent exclusively that on examining the said containers, cartons of camouflage umbrellas were discovered in the five containers.
Earlier, there were media reports a container of arms and ammunition which was forcefully removed from an undisclosed terminal at the port, albeit against the directive from the police boss, Celestine Okoye that the container should be impounded.
Confirming the incident to our correspondent, the IFFA chairman said: "It was a serious confrontation between the police and the terminal operator, the police ordered the terminal to position some containers for them, but the terminal operator said that other government agencies needed to be notified that the containers are about to be positioned for examination"
"The police said that they suspected some arms and ammunitions were inside the containers, but among the five containers that were dropped, there was nothing like arms and ammunitions, the highest they could find were camouflaged umbrellas of army, customs and navy, there were not even that of police among them, they saw about 30 cartons of camouflage umbrellas"
"According to the packing list, the importer declared umbrella, it was part of his PAAR, I think the owner was a supermarket owner, but out of ignorance, he brought few of the camouflage umbrellas, the commissioner came by himself with his men to examine the containers" , he added.
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