Connect with us

Crime

Customs hands over 1,599 seized arms, ammunition in Lagos to NSA Office

Published

on

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has officially handed over 1,599 assorted arms and 2,298 live cartridges, seized during operations in 2024, to the National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).

The handover ceremony, held yesterday, marks a significant step in the country’s ongoing efforts to curb the proliferation of illicit arms.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Comptroller General of Customs, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, emphasized the critical role of intelligence-driven interventions in safeguarding national security, particularly in light of rising insecurity from armed banditry in the Northwest and the spread of illegal arms in the Southeast.

Adeniyi revealed that 11 suspects connected to the arms trafficking network were also handed over for further investigation and possible prosecution.

“The Nigeria Customs Service has reinforced its core mandate of protecting our national borders through targeted anti-smuggling operations and precise intelligence-driven interventions,” Adeniyi said.

“Our track record in intercepting illegal arms and ammunition underscores our frontline role in maintaining national security.”

Recall that major breakthrough came in May 2018, when Customs intercepted 440 pump-action rifles concealed in 516 bags of Plaster of Paris (POP) cement.

The rifles were hidden in a 20-foot container at the Tin Can Island Port.

Subsequent investigations led to the discovery of two additional containers (CMAU 189817/8 and GESU 255208/1) similarly packed with arms hidden among sanitary wares.

“Today’s handover encompasses these seizures, culminating in the recovery of 1,599 arms and 2,298 live cartridges,” Adeniyi stated.

The Customs boss highlighted the sophisticated investigative techniques employed, including forensic analysis of shipping records and collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to trace the illicit shipments to a Turkish company.

Legal action was subsequently pursued through the Office of the Attorney General, resulting in prosecutions at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

He said: ”Through strategic inter-agency cooperation, we have successfully disrupted these smuggling operations. Our resolve remains firm: the Service will spare no effort in dismantling such networks.”

Adeniyi also disclosed ongoing investigations into recent arms seizures at the Onne Port, where similar concealment methods were detected.

Strengthening Inter-Agency Collaboration

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, who was represented by Mr. Johnson Kokumo, commended the collaborative efforts between Customs and other arms-bearing agencies.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Crime

Deceased gospel musician Osinachi’s husband sentenced to death by hanging

Justice Nwosu-Iheme ruled that Nwachukwu was guilty of culpable homicide which resulted in the death of the deceased (his wife) on April 8, 2022.

Published

on

By

An FCT High Court Wuse Zone 2 in Abuja on Monday (April 28) sentenced the husband of the deceased gospel singer Osinachi Peter Nwachukwu to death by hanging.

Justice Nwosu-Iheme ruled that Nwachukwu was guilty of culpable homicide which resulted in the death of the deceased (his wife) on April 8, 2022.

The judge held that the prosecution had proven the burden of proof placed on it by the law and subsequently found the defendant guilty.

Nwachukwu was arraigned on June 3, 2022, by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF), on behalf of the Federal Government, on a 23-count charge.

The charge was on culpable homicide punishable with death, criminal intimidation, cruelty to children, criminal intimidation of children, spousal battery, among others.

In the course of the trial, the prosecution called 17 witnesses, including two children of the late Osinachi, who testified as fourth and fifth prosecution witnesses, PW4 and PW5, respectively.

Justice Nwosu-Iheme subsequently sentenced Nwachukwu to death by hanging on Count 1, while he was sentenced to two years imprisonment each on Counts 2, 3, 8,9, 12, 13, and 18.

The court sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment on Count 10, and three years imprisonment on Count 11, while he was fined the sum of N500,000 and N200,000, respectively, on Counts 6 and 7.

Continue Reading

Crime

Police arrest 16-year-old boy with pistol in Lagos

Published

on

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 16-year-old boy, Solomon Ibiwoye, after he was found in possession of a firearm in the Ebute-Ero area of the state.

Police spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in an X post on Sunday, commending vigilant residents whose alert led to the arrest.

“Kudos to observant Lagosians who noticed 16-year-old Solomon Ibiwoye with a firearm and discreetly alerted Ebute-Ero Police Division,” Hundeyin wrote.

He added that a subsequent search of the teenager’s residence led to the recovery of a locally fabricated firearm and an unexpended cartridge.

Hundeyin did not disclose the circumstances under which the teenager came into possession of the weapon or whether he was linked to any criminal gang, but assured that the matter was being thoroughly investigated.

Continue Reading

Crime

Drone attack hits displaced persons camp in Sudan, kills 11 people

Published

on

At least 11 people were feared dead after a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, hit a displacement camp in Sudan’s River Nile state in an attack that also took out the regional power station for the fourth time.

The RSF, which denied carrying out the attack has reportedly targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months.

“This morning we heard a large explosion and we found two families that had been burnt completely inside their tents, while they were sleeping.

“We had left Khartoum fearful of the war and now the war has followed us here. I don’t know where I will go with my family and children, we have no shelter or place to go to,” teacher Mashair Hemeidan said as she shed tears.

The escalation of such strikes, which have hampered the country’s electrical grid and plunged millions into weeks-long blackouts, comes two years into a damaging war as the army has been pushing the paramilitary force out of central Sudan.

Ground fighting in the war is now focused in the Darfur region, where the RSF is fighting to seize the army’s remaining foothold, driving hundreds of thousands from their homes.

There has also been fighting in western Omdurman, part of the capital where the RSF remains present.

Some 179 families displaced by the fighting in the capital had been living in difficult conditions in an abandoned building and surrounding tents outside the town of al-Damer, receiving little in the way of humanitarian assistance.

The camp was located about three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the Atbara power station which was also struck.

Continue Reading

Trending