In a major blow to illegal arms proliferation, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Sunday, finalised the coupling and detailed examination of a massive arms haul seized at the Tin Can Island Port Command, uncovering 399 fully assembled Jojef firearms alongside a critical assortment of supplementary rifle parts.
The development follows the disclosure by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, that Customs had intercepted a container containing concealed crates of knocked-down components preliminarily identified as Jojef pump-action rifles.
The additional rifle parts recovered include 89 frames, 16 heat shields, 10 trigger pins, three pistons, 25 locking lugs, 80 charging handles, 39 pistol-grip screws, 34 springs, 57 trigger groups, 66 foregrip latches, 45 foregrips/handguards, four pistol grips and five barrels.
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The CGC had warned that criminal networks could seek to exploit Nigeria’s borders, ports and airports ahead of the next general elections to move prohibited items into the country.
He assured Nigerians that the Service would intensify surveillance and enforcement operations to prevent such activities.
“We are about entering a major election cycle and we know that by this period, men of the underworld will want to use our borders, our ports, our airports to bring in items like this. We are going to redouble our efforts to ensure that we do not allow them to do so,” Adeniyi said.
Adeniyi reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to intelligence-led enforcement, stronger border surveillance and collaboration with sister security agencies, including the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to identify and dismantle trafficking networks while safeguarding national security and facilitating legitimate trade.
Following the complete inventory and assessment of the illicit shipment, the CGC reiterated that NCS is preparing to hand over the seized armaments to the NCCSALW, underscoring a unified inter-agency commitment to taking dangerous weapons entirely off the streets and ensuring that those behind the trafficking network are tracked down and brought to justice.