Seized weapons: We’re working with Turkey, China Customs to curb illicit arms – NCS
From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Customs Service(NCS), said it is collaborating with its Turkish counterpart to curb the menace of the influx of Illicit Arms from Türkiye into Nigeria.
It also said that it had ratified agreement with Chinese Customs to curb the menace.
NCS, public relations officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, said this at the briefing by the Strategic Communication Inter-agency Policy Committee (SCIPC) under the office of the National Security Adviser which took place at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
The Nigerian Customs Service had on 1 July 2024 intercepted and seized arms and ammunition totaling N18.23bn at the Onne Port in Rivers State in containers originating from Turkey.
The items recovered include; 848 rifles and 112,500 rounds of live ammunition.
The illegal arms were concealed in other items inside a 1X40 foot container ‘MAEU165396’, while the drugs found in different cartons were in nine containers.
Again,on 1 July,2024, the NCS intercepted assorted arms, drones, and military accoutrements worth ₦1.5bn at Murtala Muhammad Airport exported from Turkey to Lagos State.
Maiwada, said ” If you recall, some two months or three months back, China, and we signed an MOU with the general administration of China Customs.
“Most of the drugs we intercept comes from India. We are working towards also having what is called Customs to Customs cooperation. Those of us that are within the World Customs Organization, Customs to Customs cooperation is part of the strategy to, one, ensure trade facilitation, two, to cut illicit trade.
“So we are working together with those Customs administration. And at the higher level, there will be also diplomatic engagement, which is above us”.
He said “and the same question was raised about Turkey. Fortunately, there was an MOU with Turkey. When he was the spokesperson of the Customs, during the late Comptroller General, he promised he is going to resuscitate that MOU to engage with Turkey Customs administration on how to curtail the menace of the smuggling of small arms and light weapons into Nigeria”.
Sent from my iPhone X
Displaying image.png.
