The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted 399 fully assembled patrol rifles and hundreds of firearm components concealed in an imported container at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos, in what Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, described as a major intervention against the proliferation of illicit weapons in Nigeria.
The Customs boss disclosed this during a formal handover of the seized firearms to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), stressing that the interception had prevented a potentially dangerous consignment from reaching its intended destination.
According to Adeniyi, the container arrived at Tincan Island Port aboard the vessel MV Velika on July 8 and was selected for examination after the NCS risk-management system flagged it for inspection.
The Comptroller-General said the firearms had been deliberately dismantled and concealed among the contents of the container in an apparent attempt to make them more difficult to detect.
“When I met gentlemen of the press last week, we told you the inspection had been made, but that the examination and the coupling were still going on. That work is now finished,” Adeniyi said.
The completed examination, he disclosed, yielded 399 fully assembled Jojef Corp. patrol rifles and 535 assorted firearm component parts.
Among the components recovered were 89 frames, 80 charging handles, 579 trigger groups and 25 locking blocks, with Customs officials saying every recovered item had been counted and documented.
Adeniyi said the seizure was particularly significant given Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
He warned that the illegal importation of hundreds of firearms could have had serious consequences for public safety, particularly as the country approaches another electioneering period.
“This particular one did not reach its desired destination, and officers of this service are the reason for that,” the Customs chief said.
Risk-management system triggered interception
Adeniyi placed particular emphasis on the role of technology in the seizure, explaining that Customs could not physically open every container arriving in the country.
He said the interception demonstrated the effectiveness of the NCS’s automated risk-management and cargo-screening capabilities under the government’s trade-modernisation programme.
According to him, the system integrates automated risk management, cargo tracking and non-intrusive inspection, enabling Customs officers to identify consignments that require closer examination.
“What technology gives us is the ability to know which container to open,” Adeniyi said, adding that the seizure demonstrated the capability the system was designed to provide.
He also warned that the seizure should not be treated as an isolated incident, noting that the investigation had already progressed beyond the discovery of the weapons.
Two suspects in custody
The Comptroller-General disclosed that two suspects, identified as Robert Eze and Ejiogu Godson, had been arrested in connection with the consignment.
He said one of the suspects was arrested on July 31 at the Bond Terminal while allegedly attempting to secure the release of the container.
According to Adeniyi, both suspects had been remanded by the Federal High Court in Lagos, while further legal proceedings were expected as the investigation continued.
He declined to prejudge the suspects, stressing that questions concerning the intended destination of the weapons and the wider network behind the shipment remained matters for investigators and the courts.
“This, therefore, is not an incident. This is a case, and every link inside of it,” he said.
Adeniyi further warned Customs personnel against colluding with arms traffickers, saying officers who facilitate the movement of illicit weapons would not receive protection from the service.
“Any officer who lends himself to this trade or who uses his position to ease the passage of goods like this will not and will never find shelter or protection within the Nigerian Customs Service,” he declared.
Weapons handed over to National Small Arms Centre
Following the completion of the examination, the recovered firearms and components were formally handed over to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, under the Office of the National Security Adviser, for appropriate custody and further action.
Receiving the weapons on behalf of the Centre, retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police Johnson Babatunde Kokumo commended the NCS for the interception and described the handover as an important step in protecting national security.
Kokumo said the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons remained a major driver of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and other violent crimes across the country.
He said the Centre’s assessments had shown that a significant proportion of illicit weapons in circulation may at some point have passed through official channels, underscoring the importance of strengthening controls at ports and other entry points.
According to him, the Centre has so far recovered more than 21,000 small arms and light weapons, while over 19,000 have been destroyed since its establishment.
Kokumo pledged that the weapons received from Customs would be managed and accounted for in accordance with Nigerian law and relevant international best practices.
He also called for greater cooperation among security and law-enforcement agencies, including the sharing of actionable intelligence in real time and the promotion of voluntary surrender and civil disarmament initiatives.
Customs records additional N373.8m cannabis seizure
The Customs Service also announced another significant seizure made at the Tincan Island Port involving 240 water containers in which illicit cannabis-infused products were allegedly concealed among other imported goods.
The seized items include Delta-8 cannabis-infused pre-rolled products, Delta-8 cannabis-infused gummies and cannabis-infused cookies.
The NCS placed the combined street value of the seized cannabis-infused products at approximately N373.8 million.
Adeniyi said the inventory and valuation process, which had not been completed when Customs first briefed journalists on the seizure, had now been concluded.
The items are to be formally handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and action within its statutory mandate.
The Customs chief said the handover formed part of a broader inter-agency approach to ensuring that prohibited narcotics intercepted at Nigeria’s ports do not find their way into communities.
He also disclosed that he was scheduled to participate in a programme with the NDLEA leadership concerning the destruction of seized illicit drugs following the completion of investigations.
According to him, the destruction of such substances is necessary to ensure that confiscated narcotics do not eventually return to the illegal market.
CAC pledges stronger inter-agency collaboration
The Customs Area Controller of the Tincan Island Ports Command, J.A. Anani, described the handover as evidence of the agencies’ shared commitment to national security and accountable management of prohibited goods.
Anani said effective border management required more than enforcement, stressing that cooperation among Customs, security agencies and regulatory institutions was critical to tackling the movement of illicit arms and other prohibited commodities.
He commended the leadership of the Comptroller-General of Customs and the NCCSALW for their continued cooperation and expressed confidence that stronger collaboration would produce further successes against networks involved in illicit arms trafficking.
‘Every intercepted firearm may represent a life saved’
Adeniyi said the significance of the seizure extended beyond the number of rifles and components displayed during the handover.
He argued that every firearm prevented from reaching criminal networks represented a potential threat neutralised before it could be used against innocent Nigerians.
“Every firearm we stop before it reaches the wrong hands is a life that may have been saved,” he said.
The Customs chief pledged that the NCS would continue to strengthen intelligence gathering, improve its risk-management systems and work closely with sister security agencies to identify and disrupt attempts to smuggle arms and other prohibited goods into the country.
He said the latest seizure demonstrated that Nigeria’s ports and borders could not be treated as safe passageways for illicit weapons.
“We will not allow the ports and the borders of this country to be used for bringing arms or anything else that threatens the safety of Nigerians,” Adeniyi said.
The handover, he added, was intended to demonstrate transparency and accountability while allowing the investigation into the seized weapons and suspects to proceed without prejudging the outcome.
For the Customs Service and its partner agencies, the operation represents a significant test of Nigeria’s increasingly technology-driven border-control architecture—and a warning to those seeking to exploit the country’s ports for the illegal movement of firearms and narcotics