The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over intercepted cartridges and ammunition to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).
The Customs Area Controller, Port and Terminal Multi-services Ltd. (PTML) Command, Tenny Daniyan, handed over the cartridges to NCCSALW in Lagos on Tuesday.
He explained that Customs was saddled with the mandate of revenue generation, trade falitation, suppression of smuggling and safeguarding of the nation’s borders.
He said that continuous interception of illegal arms was the service frontline role of maintaining national security, adding that their efforts aimed toward ridden the nation of illegal arms and strengthening public safety.
“The command while conducting Examination on one used Toyota Tundra and one used Hyundai Sonata extracted 75 rounds of 12GA live cartridges and one empty 9MM magazine along with four rounds of live ammunition, respectively,” Daniyan said.
He said that the command would continue to promote legitimate trade while ensuring that National Security is not compromised.
The PTML customs boss attributed the seizures to the extraordinary vigilance of the officers in the command which was discovered as a result of 100 per cent examination.
“Before we discovered the cartridges, our officers had to turn the vehicles around, some cartridges are recovered in the tank meter of the vehicles and some are recovere inside the seat form.
“We discovered the cartridges inside vehicles that was imported to the command over six months ago. We have been investigating the source of the shipment which shows that the vehicles were bought online from overseas.
“The owners was able to know during examination. Some of the countries where the vehicle came from are using weapon legally.
“We discovered that the importation of the vehicles was not to bring arms and ammunition because of the quantity but as the case may be, ammunition are not allowed into the country,”Daniyan said.
He reiterated the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, core mandate of zero tolerance to smuggling including arms and ammunitions.
Daniyan said that the command had been investigating the interception since over six months that they just got directive from customs management to hand it over to NCCSALW.
He urged stakeholders to examined their consignment properly before getting to port of destinations
Daniyan, while handing over the cartridges and ammunitions to NCCSALW, said he witnessed second handing over of illicit weapons.
According to him, the Comptroller-General recently handover some containers of ammunition to NCCSALW in Lagos.
He promised to redoubled their efforts in ensuring they stopped illicit arms coming into the country.
The Zonal Coordinator, South West of NCCSALW, Commissioner of Police rtd., Mustapha Alamutu, commended the Customs for handing over the illicit arms to NCCSALW, saying that one of illicit arm was enough to course damage to the country.
He said that NCCSALW was saddled with the responsibility of retrieving all illicit arms from all security agencies a Ross the country.
Alamutu said that the handing over was symbolic for breaking through and subsequent handing over of the illicit arms.
“The National Centre for the control of small arms and light weapons is saddled with the collection, storage, destruction, management and stockpiling of obsoletes, seized, and illegally held small and light weapons.
“NCCSALW is the only agency saddle with the responsibility to retrieve all recovered Illicit arms from all security agencies across the country.
“Nigeria should be conscious of illicit arms. The handing over which is collective effort of the two agencies and we prayed the synergy continues,” Alamutu said.
