The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has stopped 20 big loads carrying over 10,598 weapons and 114,929 bullets in the last six years. These items are worth a lot of money, about N9.58 billion.
In a meeting with the press, the head of the NCS, Mr. Bashir Adeniyi, talked about these actions in a place called Zone A.
Mr. Adeniyi shared that many of these dangerous items, about 60%, were found just this year, in 2023.
He gave some numbers: “We have caught 60% of these things this year alone. This is a big portion, covering about 34.67% of the total money value, 20.58% of the weapons, and a huge 99.62% of the bullets over six years,” Mr. Adeniyi shared.
What Are They Doing About It?
The leader of NCS said these numbers show that the problem of secretly bringing weapons into Nigeria is getting worse. People who do this use new tricks to try and get the items into the country.
“To handle this growing problem, we have said we need to get serious, especially after catching lots of banned items like medicines and such,” Mr. Adeniyi stated.
Mr. Adeniyi also talked about NCS’s plans to stop smuggling. They have special actions called “Operation Whirlwind” and “Operation Swift Sting.” These are part of a bigger plan to keep Nigeria safe and healthy.
“Through these and other efforts, we’re trying different ways to make our work better and keep Nigeria safe and healthy,” he added.
Capturing Pangolin Scales
In other important news, Mr. Adeniyi said that NCS has captured its biggest haul of pangolin scales with help from the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) since 2020.
This joint effort happened in the Nigerian states of Kano, Kaduna, and Lagos. They seized 9,493 kg of these scales.
“On August 8, working with the Wildlife Justice Commission, we caught 9,493 kg of pangolin scales,” Mr. Adeniyi mentioned.
He added that this was the biggest capture of pangolin scales in the world since 2020.
“In Kano and Kaduna, we found 2,293 tons of scales and caught two people. In Lagos, we seized 7.2 tons and arrested two more,” Mr. Adeniyi explained.
Four people in total were caught during these actions.
These captures take the total weight of pangolin scales caught by NCS and the Wildlife Justice Commission to nearly 20 tons since 2021, which means about 30,000 pangolins are gone. Mr. Adeniyi thanked both local and international partners for helping.
Capturing Elephant Tusks
- Besides the things caught inside Nigeria, Mr. Adeniyi talked about an international action where a shipment from Onne Port in Nigeria was stopped in Vietnam.
- This shipment had 1,580 kg of elephant tusks, leading to the arrest of three people trying to send them illegally.
- The head of NCS, Mr. Adeniyi, assured everyone that they will keep supporting good business practices and protecting Nigeria’s economy.