By Kemi Kasumu and agency reports
Security operatives involved in the clearance of containers at the various seaports have been alleged to have a hand in clandestine supply of arms into the country, reports have revealed. Media investigations also revealed that in the last two years, various types of automatic weapons and ammunition have been intercepted by security operatives after they have been cleared from the port.
It would be recalled that in May last year, a syndicate smuggling expired tyres into Nigeria was burst as men of the then Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Maritime Police Command Headquarters, Alhaji Mohammed Musa Katsina, intercepted a 40-foot container along Ikorodu Road after it had been cleared by operatives at the Ports in Apapa, Lagos.
One suspect, who was the clearing agent named, Pastor Okey Ndibuisi, was arrested while the real syndicates were being traced to the United Arab Emirate capital of Dubai when the AIG was suddenly transferred the moment IGP Solomon Arase retired and the current IGP Ibrahim Idris took over. That was the end of the whole thing till recently when another incident of cleared consignment containing 661 pump action riffles were intercepted at Mile 2 area in Lagos.
But addressing journalists in his office at Force Headquarters Annex, Obalende that time, AIG Katsina, who said the arrested suspect was cooperating with his command but that names of the container’s owner and other details declared on the documents the suspect was holding were fake, made some vital comments acknowledging that the crime for which reason he called the press conference was water borne crime.
AIG Katsina said, “The primary scene of crime was somewhere in Dubai. This container loaded with offensive e materials took from Dubai and entered the Nigerian territorial space. My men on surveillance duty somewhere in Lagos intercepted it having been reliably informed through our intelligence corridor of the offensive materials the contained carried.
“I ordered for the stoppage of the container, and ordered for it to be brought here. On close examination, we discovered different scenario in the container. One of the first item discovered is this red Toyota Camry 2010 model which was declared 2001 model. Inside the container is another vehicle, a Mercedes Benz, but which investigation revealed was never declared. We also saw hundreds of used tyres. The tryes are all expired; some of them expired more than five years ago,” he said.
What baffled AIG Katsina most was, “How did they find their way into the Nigerian territorial space? That is what we are investigating. Gentlemen of the Press, this issue of expired tyres, I can tell you that if we have not intercepted this container, the tyres would have ended up in a secret processing area where they will be subjected to all forms of recycling only for them to appear in the market as new. Then you and I will go and buy our coffin with our own money. You fix it in the vehicle, you ply the road and the next thing you know is a burst, followed by shrill agonising cries of victims, then terrifying silence, and then obituary.
“The irony and tragedy is that those responsible always smile to the bank, acquiring mansions all over the world, using blood money to buy unmerited chieftaincy titles, leaving in their trail death, sorrow and anguish.
“We have gotten details about this, the offence has international connection, we are going to rely heavily on the Interpol to bring the principal actors to justice. The principal architect is hiding somewhere in Dubai.
“The maritime police command under my watch will not spare any effort to clean our territorial waters and waterways of any act that has the capability of inflicting pains on the people. And going back to this issue of under declaration and concealment, now you can see through rough estimation how over two million robbed from the federal government. If we want to use this container as basis for generalisation, and from what we have gathered, ten of this container escape through our watch, which means in a day, we may end up losing twenty million naira.
“If you multiply that by a month, it is 600 million naira robbed from the FG. Wouldn’t this amount be enough to sink bore holes in some genuine worm infested communities in Anambra State? Wouldn’t the money have been enough to fight drought and dessert encroachment in parts of the North, by buying trees and planting them?” He asked in bewilderment.
This is to say that what the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, is seeing as surprise today started a long time ago. But under him, records abound that many of such cases started being brought under control with the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as President of the Republic. However, much as arrests were being made, the syndicates never rested on their oars as they used people within the security agencies and their surrogates within the media to ensure that nothing was heard or read about the arrests.
AIG Katsina had such experience in his pursuance of the contrabands that he apprehended as, The DEFENDER now gathered how many highly placed people in Abuja prevailed on the AIG to drop the charges he was pressing against the syndicates, which he refused.
The moment IGP Solomon Arase got out of office and a new IGP replaced him, one of the first thing that happened was that AIG Maritime Command was replaced. All efforts to know why the sudden replacement of the resilient AIG proved abortive as no police source was ready to talk even under condition of anonymity.
However, Katsina, who vowed that nobody would under his watch as AIG Maritime Police Command would be spared in ensure that peace and crime-free situation were restored in the maritime territorial space in the country, said a lot, which this online media has decided to scoop at this material time that it is also relevant. And it is being referred to here for Customs Comptroller-General Col. Hameed Ali and the sitting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris to know what some officers and men under their respective security units as well as some media men have done to aid importation of dangerous items into the country which, in most cases, strengthened some of the insecurity experiences that Nigerians have had.
An officer like Katsina probably should have helped the Customs flush out some of the officers that cleared recent pump action riffles if he was not removed. He told journalists while in office as AIG Maritime Police Command that, “The moral question is not about enforcement, it is about everybody. I am in close contact with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service; we are going to work together with them in a very flourishing synergy. And after here, the first action we are going to take…all what was not declared, they will pay the normal duty. After that, the customs will hand them over to us for prosecution but the manhunt for the syndicate will continue until we get them.
“I want to use this opportunity to advise the public that life has no duplicate. When next people want to buy tyres, we have reputable companies in Nigeria. Let us not rush, let us be patient to get to the appropriate market with the standard tyres to buy.
“There is no way we can fight crime without you members of the press. I am seeing some of you for the first time, but I have the stamina to carry all of you on my back on every stage and station of the fight against criminality and economic sabotage. We will go all out and you the press will be the third eye. If we are doing it right, tell the world, where we are wrong, don’t hesitate to beat us back to track with your constructive criticism”, AIG MM Katsina said, adding that it would continue to baffle him and other sane person how such items scaled through the watch of security people at the Ports into the territorial space of Nigeria.
This may have informed the decision of Comptroller-General of Customs Service, retired Col. Hameed Ali, to order that the investigation into the recent interception of about 661 pump action rifles be widened.
The Nigeria Customs Service had on Tuesday declared two of its personnel wanted for their alleged involvement. Three persons, among who are the importer, the clearing agent and a delivery man were also arrested. The CGC, at a press conference in Lagos said some customs officers involved in the clearing process were also quizzed and that they have provided useful information.
Daily Trust investigations at the Apapa port revealed that security agencies allowed to be around during examination of containers are Custom officers, policemen, officials of the Department of State (DSS), as well as those from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
A source alleged that there is a conspiracy theory in the entire process, which sees those behind the importation of arms often using terminals in Apapa. He said officials of a single government agency cannot handle the entire clearing process. He added that the government, in its wisdom, decided that officials of various agencies should be on ground to checkmate one another.
Though Col. Ali said that the container was intercepted through intelligence, it was discovered that it was greed that blew the lid open. An agent at the Apapa terminal revealed that what happened in the case of the seized container of pump action rifles was that someone whose interest was not well-protected provided officers with useful information.
The daily continued that Lagos Lawyer and Human Rights activist, Chief Gabriel Giwa Amu, advised the Customs high command in Abuja to also investigate deeply. According to him, various foreign nationals on a daily basis export prohibited items out of the country. Items exported with the strong connivance of custom officials include semi-processed leathers, wood and precious stones.
“What they do is to transport these prohibited items from different parts of the country, especially from the North to Lagos,” he said, adding that not too long ago, a container load of high calibre arms was imported into the country from Romania.
Further findings revealed that the flow of arms has continued with the help of security agents, as they have direct input on the deliveries of arms and other prohibited items, even if mostly consultative. The agencies help with the processing of documents of weapons on behalf of those who would receive same. The involvement was supposedly motivated by the fact that importers are willing to pay huge sums to get them cleared on behalf of their clients.
In December 2016, operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Tin Can Island Port Command intercepted a cache of arms, ammunition and military gadgets, being smuggled into the country from the United States. Prior to this time, Customs operatives attached to the Tin-Can Island port command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), also intercepted arms and ammunitions concealed in a container. One person was however arrested in connection with the importation.
Disclosing this in Lagos, during hand over of the contraband cargoes, Customs Area Comptroller (CAC) of the command, Mr. Yusuf Bashar said that the healthy collaboration amongst security agencies working in the command led to the interception. Similarly, operatives impounded a cache of arms and ammunition abandoned in the strong room of the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company Limited (NAHCO). The seizure included six double-barrelled guns. Other items impounded included single-barrelled guns, a pump action gun, one Uzzi, two magazines, one Berretta pistol and one Becheverria pistol.
