By Udeme Clement

About four months after the Tincan Island Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, intercepted 440 pump action rifles smuggled into the country from Turkey, the government of the United State of America, USA, is yet to assist Nigeria in tracing the agency or individual that the arms were sold to.

The arms intercepted precisely in May, 2017, concealed in a 20ft container and falsely declared as white cement by the importer, in a bid to escape security checks, were uncovered by the intelligence driven technique used by Customs officers during examination.

Sunday Vanguard during investigations gathered that, though the deadly weapons were smuggled into Nigeria from Turkey, that the arms were manufactured by a company in US. In that capacity,  the US government requested for the serial numbers of the arms, in order to assist Nigeria trace the real buyer, and the Customs management took a bold stop in sending the serial numbers of the arms, in order to ascertain which organisation or individual that the manufacturing company sold the arms to, but till now, nothing has been done to follow up the case.

However, till this moment, the US government that has earlier promised to assist Nigeria, in order to fast track the investigation has not responded again. Now, the questions are, why is nothing being done to trace those who bought the rifles from the manufacturing company in US? Why is the US government not responding in assisting Nigeria as earlier promised?

Information made available to Sunday Vanguard from the sources at the US Embassy in Nigeria  revealed that what prompted Customs to write the US government initially was the willingness shown by US  to assist Nigeria, but suddenly, nothing is being done about it till now.

A stakeholder who spoke under anonymity called on the Customs management to send another letter to the government of US on this issue, stressing that such a sensitive issue, which has to do with national security  must not be swept under the carpet for any reason.  He said, “With this delay , it means Customs has a lot of work to do.”

Aside from the issue of 440 rifles, the challenges facing Customs in their operations are enormous. One of such problems making their work extremely difficult is the sick scanners we see all over the place.  At present, all the scanners at the seaports and Customs Commands across the whole Nigeria are not functional.

Places visited by Sunday Vanguard during investigations to check the condition of the scanners include Seme Command, Idiroko border, Tincan Island port, Apapa that is the premier port in Nigeria and other Commands. At Seme, which is known to be the busiest border in the sub-region, it was revealed that the scanner was not working due to what the officers in charge described as software problem, that can only be rectified by the manufacturer.  At Idiroko, the border between Nigeria and Benin Republic, where there is a Free Trade Zone, FTZ, it was the same challenge, as the scanner there has been inactive for years now. In fact, the story of sick scanners was the same at Tincan,  Apapa and other Commands visited during the week.

However, the economic implication is that, with faulty scanners at every Command, the new Executive Order on ease of doing business may suffer a setback.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/09/440-arms-seizure-nigeria-yet-get-response-us-2/

None of your scanners working. What exactly is customs doing with their budgets? Nigeria is not top priory for USA hence the foot dragging. They can figure this out in a few weeks who bought those guns.

Yet you say they are irrelevant

Buhari and Hausa Fulani mafias are daring the US and will pay dearly for it

This Government continues to upset United States. A week ago you attacked US for not labeling IPOB a terrorist organization, few days ago you challenged world powers on why no African country is on the UN Security Council seat, and two days you hired thugs and hooligans to go and harass US officials at US Embassy Abuja simply because you are angry that the US did not support the labeling of IPOB as a terrorist organization. And today you are accusing the US of intentionally refusing to provide information the manufacturer of a guns seized; indirectly saying they are behind it. One thing with US is they may be supporting you but the moment they realize you are getting stronger or bold in power, they will teach you a lesson. Gaddafi treatment is waiting for somebody.

Zoo custom of zero intelligence.they have the name of the importer.they have the serial number.they even know the name of the manufacturer and the country where the weapon was imported from.instead of the zoo president to appoint a qualify custom personnel that understands modern technology,he went to daura and resurrected an analog 82 years old man as custom boss that is clueless like the vegetable himself.

How could this pple continued disgracing us internationally? Showcasing their unprofessional careers.
Must Nigeria depends on other country for everything?
Even ordinary investigation. Shame on them.

Don't mess with the united states. The only thing we export now is oil and gas. If we should face sanctions it would be a fatal blow to our economy which is struggling for survival. What is the customs doing with their budget. Don't they have their intelligence unit.