Vincent Toritseju
20 September 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — FOLLOWING the interception of over 1,500 arms of various sizes and designs, the Nigeria Customs Service yesterday arrested and detained 28 officers working at the Tin-Can Island Command of the Service.
The agency made good its promise to fish out and prosecute officers involved in the plan to clear a container laden with the arms and ammunition.
Officers of the command have become jittery as a result of the action of the Customs management and many more officers are likely to be axed as a result of the development.
It was also gathered that the detained officers whose names could not be immediately ascertained have been rounded up and are being interrogated to determine their level of involvement in the botched plan to ferry the container of arms out of the port undetected.
Sources close to the command disclosed that the officers and their civilian collaborators will soon appear in court but not until the Service has carried out a detailed and thorough investigation of the matter.
It was gathered that some of the 28 officers might be let off the hook if the ongoing investigation does not find them culpable as some of them might only be involved in the documentation but not privy to the content of the container.
It would be recalled that some operatives of the Intelligence Unit of the Service on routine duty on September 6th became suspicious of a 20ft container which was not initially listed for examination but had through questionable means been positioned with other containers for the day’s examination.
They also discovered that the seal of the container had been cut and padlocked. The suspicious movement of the container made them order that the container is transferred immediately to the Enforcement Unit where it was examined and pump-action rifles found in it.
This is the fourth time this year that the Customs will be intercepting arms and ammunition from the ports in Lagos.
A total of 2,656 rifles have been intercepted since the beginning of this year.
