Former Kaduna central lawmaker, Shehu Sani, has urged the Nigeria Customs Service to disclose the identities of those behind the importation of 844 rifles, 112,500 live ammunitions to Rivers State.
In a tweet on Monday, July 1, Sani commended Customs authorities for the seizure.
“The interception of illegally imported arms & ammunition by the Customs is commendable. In a country infested by terrorists, thousands of lives are saved. Next is to publicly disclose the identity of the chief importer and not just parade the crew of the ship,” Sani wrote.
Leading reporters recall that Customs intercepted a container from Turkey containing 844 rifles and 112,500 live ammunitions.
The service arrested three suspects who are currently in custody.
It also noted that thorough investigation is ongoing to ensure all those involved face the full wrath of the law.
Briefing journalists at Onne Port where the items were seized, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the arms and ammunitions include 764 units of Tomahawk Jojef Magnum Black Pump Action Rifles; 10 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmakers Jojef Magnum Silver Pump Action Rifles, 50 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmaker Double Barrel Rifles, 20 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmaker Single Barrel Rifles, Exclusive Series, and Sterling High-Quality Live Ammunition.
The Comptroller General said the duty-paid value of the container is N4,171,710,000.
According to him , eight other containers with falsely declared contents, including used clothes and cough syrup with codeine, have been seized with a total duty-paid value of N13,915,710,000.