Operatives of the Nigerian Custom Service in Tin-Can Island Command, Lagos, have impounded 1,100 pump action rifles, bringing to a total of about 2,110 pump action rifles so far impounded in Lagos alone in the last seven months.
The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Custom Service, retired Colonel Hameed Ali, who confirmed the seizure said that the weapons were fearfully concealed in a 1×20 ft container.
He said the weapons were brought from Turkey and concealed inside a container which Bill of Laden indicated they were ‘conveying wash hand basins’.
Colonel Ali said that the weapons were discovered by custom officers who were carrying out 100 percent examination of the container. Members of the syndicate that specialises in smuggling weapons into the country were also arrested.
The Controller General said that already, a Customs officer suspected to have cut the seal of the container without following due process, as well as a clerk at the command have been arrested in connection with the discovery.