Nigerian Government has been advised to place an outright ban on all imports from Turkey since a total of 1101 pump action rifles and other ammunitions were shipped from the country in the last five months.
This came on the heels of Nigerian Customs’ seizure of 661 riffles in January and another 441 guns on Tuesday from the same country.
An industry expert and Chief Executive Officer, Ships and Ports, Bolaji Akinola who spoke to The Guardian has urged Nigerian Government to urgently take steps to halt general importation from Turkey as recent events showed that the country is contributing to security threat in Nigeria.
“I will suggest that government should halt all manner of importation from Turkey and institute a thorough investigation both at the diplomatic and intelligence level,” he said.
He said the arms should have been discovered in Turkey while they examined the cargo for export as it is done in every country, but this was not done in the two cases thereby raising security concerns.
Akinola bemoaned a situation whereby critical case such as importation of arm are swept under the carpet, as no further revelations emanated from the first case since January except for the importer that was arrested.
Concerned citizens who spoke to Moov Logistics News also emphasized the urgent need to install more scanners at the ports to ease cargo examination and forestall smuggling of firearms.
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, (NAGAFF), supported the calls for urgent installation of scanners at the ports to ease cargo examination by Customs as a result of the frequent importation of arms and ammunitions into the country. It canvassed that any individual or officers found culpable should be made to face the wrath of the law and urged Customs and other the security agencies involved in the investigation to get to the root of the matter.
Meanwhile, the TinCan Command of Nigerian Customs Service, speaking through its Public Relations Officer, Uche Ejesieme, said that the suspect and the arms are still in custody of Customs while the investigation continues.