CUSTOM OFFICIALS AGAIN INTERCEPT ANOTHER CACHE OF ARMS IN LAGOS PORT(LORD HAVE MERCY)

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) again has intercepted another cache of arms at the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

The discovery was made by the Customs at the weekend, according to INDEPENDENT findings on Tuesday.

This is happening barely a week after Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.), Comptroller-General of Customs, announced the interception and seizure of 1,100 pump action rifles imported into the country from Turkey.

Sources claimed that the arms were intercepted by eagle-eyed officers of the service led by Comptroller Yusuf Bashar, the Area Controller of the command.

The quantity of arms was yet to be ascertained as at the time of going to press, but reports indicated that the seized weapons were 477 pieces.

When INDEPENDENT visited the Customs Public Relations Officer of the command, Uche Ejesieme, on Tuesday, for confirmation, the Customs image-maker could neither confirm nor deny the seizure.

Ejesieme simply said that the command was suspecting something, and promised that if what it was suspecting became a reality, the command would invite the press to a briefing.

It would be recalled that penultimate Monday, the CGC showcased before the media 1,100 pump action rifles seized by the Tin Can Island Port command of the service.

The 1,1000 arms comprised of 600 pieces of Jojef magnum black pump action rifles, 300 Jojef silver pump action rifles, and 200 Jojef magnum plastic single barrel hunting pump action rifles.

They were smuggled into the port in container number GESU2555208 aboard Vessel MV Bella Shuttle.

The rifles, which originated from Turkey, were concealed in the container with washing basins and water closets.

That was the second time the NCS was intercepting smuggled arms at the same port this year.

Two suspects, one of them a Customs officer, who ordered the breaking of the container seal were arrested by the command.

Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.), who was worried about the incessant smuggling of arms into the country, said the service had seized large quantities of arms three times within a space of eight months.

According to him, these weapons were mainly to take peoples' lives.

He also noted that those who engaged in the smuggling of arms were simply dealing with blood money.