Security experts worry over 661 pump action rifles’ interception

Some security experts in Nigeria have expressed worries over the interception of 661 Pump-Action Rifles by Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service, yesterday, at Mile 2, Apapa, Lagos State.

According to the experts, such large importation of arms, at a period the country is facing too many security challenges doesn’t augur well.

A security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, said the seizure indicated that Nigeria has a big problem of proliferation of illegal firearms in Nigeria. The seizure, he said, also highlighted the fact that such weapons had been into the country through that way and declared it as something else several times.

He said: “I was made to understand that AK47 rifles come into this country in trailer loads. There was a situation where a General from Benue State, ran to Onitsha in Anambra State, to buy AK47 rifle; by the time he got there, they told him that Fulani herdsmen had bought the whole containers that came in.”

He further explained that such illegal importation was the reason for the crisis and armed conflict in Nigeria.

He noted: “We have the Fulani herdsmen; they are now all over the country. We have the secessionist problem in the east; the IPOB and MASSOB. Right now, what we have are protests, but imagine what would happen if they introduce arms into that equation. We have the Boko Haram crisis still raging in the north east, despite the great successes the military had achieved. We have kidnappers all over the country. They are able to achieve this through illegal weapons.

“We have a lot of criminal and ethnic militia activities. The only thing common among all of them are firearms. Even the killings going on in Southern Kaduna killings are facilitated by use of firearms. A man that doesn’t have firearms, can only fire catapult.”

He said that illegal arms are fueling violent clashes in Nigeria today. He argued that somebody, somewhere, must have had a deal with the importers, that they would protect the consignment and ensured it sailed through examination.

“Luckily, it went for secondary inspection and was detected. Customs have to be very wise and cunning, so that they could arrest the importers. I hope they have them in their custody already,” said Ekhomu.

He suggested that the Nigerian Customs Service should look at ways of rewarding any officer, who detected illegal arms, with automatic promotion or money.

He said such a reward would make Customs officials to become extra vigilant. For further reduction of arms in circulation, the federal government should embark on monetary reward for anyone that surrenders his firearm, said Ekhomu.

He further noted that government should cultivate the habit of paying for information and protecting informant.

He added: “There should be aggressive enforcement of illegal arms possession. The federal government should get a special prosecutorial team together, that would prosecute those piling arms in in this country. If we can reduce culpability; it will reduce high level of kidnapping, killings, cultism, militancy and other disturbing security issues.”

A former State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Mike Ejiofor, said: “What the seizure portends is that, with the necessary encouragement and conducive environment, our security agencies can perform better.  This is because; the recovery of such cache of arms is a huge success.  Again, there is still a lot of proliferation of small and light weapons in the country. So, it calls for extra vigilance on the part of the security agencies in particular, and Nigerians in general. One would have wondered the consequences, if the arms were not intercepted.

“Therefore, it should not stop at discovery, but the culprits must be identified and prosecuted, to serve as deterrent to others. It would have been very dangerous, if the arms were allowed to enter into the society."

The Managing Partner of Sunday Fiola and Company, Barrister Sunday Fiola, a legal practitioner and security expert, said that corruption among security operatives was responsible for the importation of such rifles.

He alleged that the container passed through 100 per cent examination by some Customs officers and other security operatives before it was cleared.

Fiola said that the spate of corruption among officers in Customs, Police, Immigration and other security agencies would continue to put the country into serious problem unless government is proactive.

Fiola added: “The container has manifest and it was inspected by some security operatives. If the present government is serious in its anti-corruption crusade, nobody would compromise the safety of the country.”

He added that government should arrest those involved and prosecute them through accelerated hearing in the court.

A former commissioner of police, Mr. Frank Odita, said the seizure meant people were already thinking of 2019.

His words: “Politicians may be the ones brining these arms into the country. It could also be other people brought them into the country for their own private purposes and ulterior motives. It, however, is quite a large number and embarrassing. The persons arrested, should give us an insight into who we should be looking at and for what purposes the arms were imported. For me, it’s an act of God, for Customs to have been able to track it. It was already packed in a deceptive manner and labeled as something else. Whoever brought in those weapons doesn’t mean well for Nigeria. It wasn’t imported by Armed Forces or the Nigeria Police Force. What would an individual want with such an importation? It means there’s a sinister motive for such importation. If it’s not for politics, then it’s for crime.”

Another security expert, Mr. Ethelbert Onuoha Anabiri Oney, Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Intelligence and Security Solutions, said the seizure signifies danger about to be perpetrated by major stakeholders and key political players.

He said that the seizure was just a piece of cake compared to the volume of arms and ammunition being pumped secretly into Nigeria.

He said: “How long are we going to be blind? There is fire on the mountain because various quarters are equipping themselves for the awaited time. The sponsors of Boko Haram, Niger Delta Avengers and even politicians are warming up because of 2019. There will be another blood battle campaign.”

Oney said that some retired Fulani generals and even first class traditional Fulani rulers, remain enemies to Nigeria. “They import guns and other dangerous weapons because they are expecting and anticipating the day they will wipe Biafra out of the surface of the earth,” said Oney.

He further added: “Those arms used by the Fulani herdsmen; how do they get them? One day, the truth will surface. If proper investigation is carried out, it will be discovered that this interception was a mistake or a misunderstanding between the owners and some Customs officials. Maybe, they disagreed on price or someone out there did not cover his track well.”