- Security agencies must get to the root of the seized 661 pump-action rifles
NOTHING illustrates better the seriousness of the acute security challenge confronting Nigeria than the interception and seizure on January 22, by security agents, of 661 pieces of pump-action rifles in Lagos. The illegal and very alarming imports, surreptitiously brought into the country through China and routed via Turkey, were reportedly packed in 49 boxes and loaded in a 40-foot container cleverly hidden among other goods, including steel doors.
But for the alertness and sense of duty of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which apprehended the deadly consignment being transported in a Mack truck, with registration number BUG 265 XG, along Apapa-Mile 2 Road, the substantial arms haul would have found its way into Nigeria’s booming market for illicit arms.
We commend the decisiveness with which the requisite arms of the NCS moved to apprehend all those involved in the dastardly transaction leading to the arrest of three suspects who were accompanying the arms to its destination, as well as the Customs officials who initially gave the containers a clean bill of health and cleared it to slip through the ports undetected.
Obviously aware of the grievous danger that this discovery poses for national security, the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), declared that “investigations have already commenced and I have directed that the dragnet should be wide enough to fish out all persons involved in the importation and clearing of the consignment”.
This surely is the kind of resoluteness needed to expose, apprehend and neutralise the brains behind what can only be a vast and intricate syndicate specialising in the clandestine importation of illegal arms. It is particularly noteworthy, as the NCS comptroller-general explained, that the seized rifles were under absolute prohibition and thus could not be legitimately brought into the country. Yet, the fact that those behind this devilish transaction could brazenly have tried to bring such a large number of arms into the country through the ports is an indication of the high level of confidence they had in their capacity to compromise and beat the security at the ports.
It is thus not unreasonable to assume that this may not have been their first time of seeking to bring in arms illegally but for mother luck that failed to smile on them this time around. There is certainly a close link between the massive influx of undetected arms into the country and the ever escalating rate of violent crimes. Thus, apart from the now thankfully largely checkmated Boko Haram terrorists as well as murderous Fulani herdsmen rampaging host communities, who are armed with sophisticated weaponry of all kinds, armed robbers, kidnappers and cultists are also aided in their nefarious activities by access to arms through unofficial channels. There is also no doubt that the perceived inability of the security agencies to effectively check crime in the country may be a motivating factor for individuals to seek to procure arms illegally for self defence.
Col. Ali was therefore spot on when he averred that “such deadly contravention of the law is even more unacceptable considering the fragile security situation in some parts of the country”. Given the complex route the arms consignment traversed on its way to Nigeria as well as within the country, the operations most likely involved a far higher number of accomplices than those currently identified. The NCS must thus seek the cooperation of other security agencies to get to the root of illicit arms importation rings that may lead to other discoveries capable of helping to stem the tide of illegal arms inflow into the country.
Equally critical is the need for the NCS to invest heavily in boosting the professional efficacy of its officers through the acquisition of cutting edge technology that can ensure that the service remains well ahead of criminal elements trying to subvert its structures, processes and systems.
