Nigerians have raised serious concerns and expressed fears over what has become of the huge illegal arms and ammunition imported into the country that have been seized over the years at the ports by the Nigerian Customs Service as well as the illegal weapons confiscated from bandits and other criminals.

The huge nature of the consignments of the seized arms and ammunition was so alarming in some cases that Nigerians are asking what has happened to the weapons and the alleged importers. A couple of months ago, the Nigerian Customs Service did their job, and intercepted two large consignments of illegal firearms in Port Harcourt and Lagos.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the NCS intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with 844 rifles and 112,500 live ammunition coming from Turkey valued at over N4bn. In the same week, the Customs Service intercepted assorted arms, drones, and military accoutrements worth N1.5bn at the Murtala Muhammad Airport also coming from Turkey and there had been interceptions of such illicit weapons from China and other countries in the past.

After such seizures, which were usually given wide publicity, nothing would be heard about the case again or whether the suspects have been prosecuted. Customs, we gathered, would always hand over the arms to the to the relevant authorities and nothing is heard again. Nigerians are worried that the same importers of the seized arms and ammunition may have repossessed the seized weapons after a deal.

The police, on their part, have lamented that they were never carried along when such seizures were made even though it is their responsibility to investigate and prosecute such cases. Some security experts have however suggested how to handle such seized weapons.

History of arms seizure

Investigations revealed that a total of 21,548,608 arms and ammunition were shipped into Nigeria illegally between 2010 and 2017. According to the data obtained from the headquarters of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), the largest cache of live ammunition of 21,407,933 was intercepted at the Apapa Port in November 2010 while 1,100 pump action guns were seized at Tin-Can port in September of 2017.

A breakdown of arms and ammunition seized at entry points of the country since 2010, according to reports, showed that one Ak-47 was seized at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) on the 20th of January, 2010. Also on 23rd of January 2010, one Arg-3gun and 2,352 quantities of Pepper bullets/Co2 were intercepted at the MMIA airport in Lagos. Most of the arms shipments, according to reports, were shipped from the Middle- East and Asia.

Reports from Customs archives showed that a total of 21,548,608 arms and ammunition were shipped into Nigeria illegally within ten years. The largest cache of arms seizures was the interception of 21,407,933 live ammunition at the Apapa port in November 2010 while 1,100 pump action guns were seized at Tin-Can port in September 2017. 516 Pietro Pistol Barrette with 85 Live ammunition were seized on the 2nd of June, 2010 at the Ports & Terminal Multi-service Limited (PTML) facility in Tin-Can ports in Lagos. On the first day in November 2010, 21,407, 933 live ammunition and 34,062 Bomb Mi/Grenhand/Fuze of Rockets were seized at the Apapa Port.

The following year witnessed the least amount of arms shipment into the country as only one Remington pistol and 15 quantities of 45 caliber ammunition were seized at the PTML terminal in Tin-Can port in Lagos on the 24th of February, 2011.

In 2012, 3000 live ammunition were intercepted at Idiroko border on the 13th of September, 2012. The year 2013 was a year of different seizures as six different arms and ammunition were seized in different locations at different periods in the year.

On the 26th of January, 2013, 1,800 live ammunition were intercepted at the Sahuda border in Adamawa State. Also, on the 2nd of April, 2013, one Barrette pistol and 49 live ammunition were seized at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Command of Customs in Lagos.

In the same month, precisely on the 24th of April, 2013, one Air Soft gun of Zinc Alloy Shell pistol and 5 Rubber bullets pellets were also seized at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Command of Customs.

Customs Service reacts

Reacting to the development, the Spokesman of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Mr. Abdullahi Maiwada said that every seizure made by the agency was handed over to the appropriate government agency for further investigation and prosecution of the suspects. Maiwada also said that the Service handed over the intercepted items and suspects at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and Onne Port to the Center for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

According to him, ?On the seizure in Onne, we had three suspects but when we do things, we try to be professional.

When someone is a suspect, I do not think it will be professional to present him for prosecution and conviction without allowing the court processes to take place. So, this is the reason we do not reveal the faces of the suspects to members of the public. We seize these arms and ammunition and we hand them over to the Center for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons including the suspects so that investigation and prosecution would not be carried out by Customs but rather the Center under the Office of National Security Adviser.

The same thing was done with seizures at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport. However, we can have further engagements with the Customs Administration of the country of origin. In the World Customs Organization, WCO, we have what we call Customs-to-Customs Cooperation.

We can explore those collaborative approaches to make sure that these items do not find their way into Nigeria from those countries of origin. We can escalate collaborative efforts to mitigate these things from further re-occurrence.

But in terms of investigating the suspects, it lies with the agencies we have handed over the materials to. The suspects in the seizure of 774 rifles in 2017 were handed over to the Directorate of State Security, DSS, they were prosecuted and convicted. The Customs officers that were involved were dismissed, and some were also convicted.?

The spokesman also explained that ?the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Wale Adeniyi, is working to resuscitate the Memorandum of Understanding with Turkey as part of efforts to end the arms inflow scourge. Fortunately, there was an MOU with Turkey.

When he (Adeniyi) was the spokesperson for the Customs, he promised he would resuscitate that MOU to engage with the Turkey Customs administration on how to curtail the menace of the smuggling of small arms and light weapons into Nigeria. Two or three months back, the CG was in China, and we signed an MOU with the general administration of China Customs. We are also working towards having what is called Customs-to-Customs cooperation.

We are working together with those Customs administrations. And at the higher level, there will also be diplomatic engagement, which is above us. For those of us who are within the World Customs Organization, Customs-to-Customs cooperation is part of the strategy to ensure trade facilitation, and cut illicit trade.?

Police lament not being carried along on arms seizure

However, feelers from police circles revealed their disenchantment and disillusionment with the way and manner seized weapons were handled in the country. While police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi was reluctant to reply to questions forwarded to him over this issue, sources in the force lamented that the police, which is the number one clearing house over such issues, were not being carried along.

According to competent police sources, ?if there is a healthy inter-agency synergy, such seizures must be channelled to the force with the suspects for further investigation and prosecution. Unfortunately, we hear about it just the way others do and this is certainly prone to abuse.

We are not saying that they are not doing a good job but we strongly think that the appropriate thing to do is to always hand over such seized consignments with the suspects to the police which is statutorily positioned in law to carry out more investigations into the case and get to the root of the matter. If the contrary is being done, who is sure that the stored weapons will not find their way back to society? How are we sure that the same people involved in the illicit deal will not cover their tracks and still recover from their actions??.

Seized weapons are statutorily supposed to be in police custody ?Mekwunye

Mr. Jude Mekwunye, a former Director at the Presidency who retired a few years ago said, ?Seized weapons ought to be in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force because the police are the lead agency in terms of internal security but there is also a Committee in the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) known as the Small Arms Proliferation Committee.

The Committeee is set up to control how seized weapons are handled. However, the arms are statutorily supposed to be in the custody of the police. When Nigerian Customs Service officials seize or recover those illegally imported weapons, they ought to hand over the same to the police or any other appropriate agency like the military. However, I cannot say how or who Customs hands over the seized weapons, particularly after the prosecution of suspects where necessary. Our system is poorly managed, thereby leaving some irregularities to take place.

There ought to be a proper record of all recovered or seized weapons. There ought to be statistics on how the weapons are moved from one agency like the Custom to another agency like the police or military. For example, certain categories of weapons belong to the military and records must show how such seized weapons are given to the military. But statutorily the police should be the first agency to take inventory of such seizure by the Customs, Civil Defense or any other agency of government.

Perhaps the poor handling of such seizures is the reason criminals in the country have unrestrained access to dangerous weapons that they use in terrorizing society. A healthy inter-agency synergy will appropriately ensure that such matters are treated well and each agency will carry out its constitutionally assigned duties without hitches. To a large extent, it will Ensure that such illicitly imported weapons do not go into the wrong hands and they will be appropriately utilized.?

Military or police should convert them for use ?Ejiofor

A security consultant and former Director with the Department of State Service (DSS) Barr. Mike Ejiofor noted that once the suspects arrested in connection with any seized weapons are charged to court, the weapons automatically become exhibits and until the court disposes of the case, there is nothing anyone can do. According to him, the weapons remain as exhibits till the case is over. However, he decries the slow pace of trial in our judicial system which has often made members of the public easily forget about such seized weapons. He said ?I believe that by the end of the day when the court finishes with the case, the seized arms are given out either to the military or police.

I really do not know how the Nigerian Customs Service disposes of such weapons but do not rule out the possibility of some corrupt officials selling part of the weapons back into society. Ordinarily, such seized weapons are supposed to be destroyed after the prosecution of suspects arrested in connection with the weapons but again, the process of destruction could cause more damage to the environment. So the best thing to do is to hand over such weapons to the military or police for them to take over the ones they can use.?

Confiscated weapons should be put to use ?Dr Ifeadi, former DCG

Also commenting, a former Deputy Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (DCG), Dr. Brasca Ifeadi said seized weapons ought to be in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force and the military since both of them are the lead agencies when it comes to issues of security of the country.

According to him, ?Since the weapons are confiscated for being illegally imported, they should be put to use within the national security apparatus. The weapons can serve the country. Depending on the quality and quantity, the police and the military can also give such weapons to other para-military agencies.?

Some seized weapons end up with DICON ?Col. Umoh

A Nigerian Army retired officer, Col. Kingsley Umoh said, ?We operate a kind of specialized process. Once something is handed over to the agency or persons who are statutorily charged with receiving such items, the story ends there. The seized weapons, in this case, end up in different channels like the military, police ordnance and the commands.? According to Umoh, who once served as the Military spokesman at the Nigerian Army Rehabilitation Center, Oshodi Lagos, ?although I cannot authoritatively speak on this, I believe some of the weapons end up with the Defense Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) because the industry is into arms manufacturing. They know how to break up the recovered weapons, melt them and reconfigure some parts just like scrap metals are processed.?

Why security agencies can?t use seized arms ? NCCSALW

On its part, the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) said the country cannot use seized weapons or ammunition illegally imported into the country or those seized/recovered from terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements, as it is against international law and best practices.

The assertion followed arguments in some quarters that following the country?s war against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other criminality and the need to equip the security forces with enough arms and ammunition, the federal government should consider handing over seized sophisticated and modern arms to security forces for use rather than destroying them.

Speaking on behalf of the Centre, Group Captain Pius Okwuego said the seized weapons cannot be re-used no matter how new or modern/sophisticated they are which is in line with the ECOWAS Mandate. He added that armed forces from different countries have their peculiar ways of dealing with the issue but it must be in line with the international mandate of which Nigeria is a signatory. He explained that the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons of 2006 provides specific guidelines for handling seized weapons.

He said, ?According to the convention, member states are required to collect and register all seized weapons as this ensures proper documentation and tracking of confiscated arms. After collection, the seized weapons must be securely stored by appropriate standards and procedures. This step is crucial to prevent the weapons from re-entering circulation illegally. The Convention further states that seized weapons must be registered and securely stored and/or destroyed. This indicates that destruction is a recommended option, but not the only one.

The convention also specifically mandates the destruction of certain categories of weapons, including unmarked weapons, illicitly held weapons, arms collected during peace operations or voluntary weapon surrender programs. Member states are obligated to declare to the ECOWAS Executive Secretary all small arms and light weapons seized, collected, and/or destroyed during peace operations on their territory. In summary, while the ECOWAS Convention does not mandate the destruction of all seized weapons, it strongly encourages this practice and requires it for specific categories of arms.

The convention provides flexibility for member states to either securely store or destroy seized weapons, depending on the circumstances and national policies. However, the emphasis on destruction, especially for unmarked and illicitly held weapons, underscores the convention?s goal of reducing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the region.? (Weekend Vanguard)

?Cache of arms and ammunition imported from Turkey intercepted at the Onne Ports in Rivers State. Photo Credit: Dennis Naku

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