Customs DG meets Turkish envoy today over illegal arms importation

The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, (retd.) on Thursday, announced that the service would be having a diplomatic meeting with the Ambassador of Turkey on Friday (today) – to address the spate of illegal of weapons into the country.

It could be recalled that the Tin Can Island command of the service on Tuesday uncovered another container of 470 rifles barely one week after the command intercepted a 20-foot container load of 1,100 pump-action rifles bringing to a total of 2,671 rifles seized within the last eight months.


Ali said, “Tomorrow, we will be having a diplomatic meeting with the Ambassador of Turkey specifically on this issue, this is one of the steps being taken outside the shores of the country to address this illicit trade.

“We have found out that the people bringing in these weapons are Nigerians. There are syndicates in Turkey who are manifesting these weapons. We are yet to get to the bottom of the whole issue. We will investigate to know if these weapons are meant for commercial purposes or group of insurgents or agitators.”