The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has urged the Federal Government to investigate the entire supply chain of firearms intercepted at Nigerian ports by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
SEREC’s Head of Research, Mr Eugene Nweke, made the call in the centre’s end-of-month bulletin made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
NAN reports that the call followed the interception of 204 firearms and firearm components concealed in a 20-foot container at Tin Can Island Port in Lagos
The shipment, which allegedly arrived from Turkey, contained gun parts hidden among used goods, including furniture, refrigerators and solar panels.
Nweke said the seizure, coming weeks after the interception of 399 firearms at the same port, should be treated as a national security intelligence signal.
He commended the Tin Can Island Port Command for the intelligence-led operation, but said every major seizure should trigger a broader investigation into the network behind the consignment.
He said that major seizures of alleged Turkey-origin firearms during the tenure of former Comptroller-General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ali, reportedly led to an undertaking to investigate and engage Turkish authorities.
According to him, investigators should trace the chain from the source and exporter through financiers, consolidators, freight forwarders, shipping lines, vessels and transit routes to consignees and beneficial owners.
He said the role of shipping lines and maritime logistics intermediaries should form part of this risk-based investigation.
“The Federal Government should reopen and review previous Turkey-linked arms investigations and establish what intelligence and corrective measures revealed.
“The government should stablish a source-country intelligence mechanism with Turkey for pre-shipment identification and disruption.
“It should investigate the entire logistics and financial chain, including exporters, financiers, freight forwarders, shipping arrangements, consignees and beneficial owners,” he said.
He urged the Federal Government to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and shared intelligence to identify recurring cargo, container, shipper, vessel and routing patterns.
According to him, it should also make every major arms seizure a network-disruption investigation, measuring success by the number of trafficking networks dismantled, not merely the number of rifles seized,” he said.
According to him, the safest firearm is not one intercepted at Tin Can Island Port but one prevented from leaving the source country.
He said a structured Turkey-Nigeria Arms Trafficking Prevention and Trade Security Mechanism, involving competent Nigerian and Turkish customs, security, intelligence, financial and maritime authorities should be established.
Nweke acknowledged the NCS’s increasing emphasis on intelligence-led enforcement, technology, risk management and inter-agency collaboration.
The SEREC official also commended NCS Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, and his management team for providing strategic direction.
He also commended the leadership of the Tin Can Island Port and Apapa Area Commands, the Federal Operations Unit, Ogun/Idiroko, Seme and other frontline formations for their continued efforts against smuggling and other illicit activities.
