By MARTHA AGAS

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it uncovered 399 fully assembled Jojef firearms and assorted rifle parts following the detailed examination of a seized shipment at the Tin Can Island Port Command.

The service made this known in a statement by its National Spokesperson, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Sunday in Abuja.

Maiwada said the seizure was confirmed on Sunday after Customs completed the coupling and examination of the arms shipment, which was initially discovered as crates of knocked-down components concealed in a container.

He said NCS’s Comptroller-General(C-G), Bashir Adeniyi, had disclosed the interception of the container containing the concealed firearm components, which were preliminarily identified as Jojef pump-action rifles.

Adeniyi said the additional rifle parts recovered include 89 frames, 16 heat shields, 10 trigger pins, three pistons, 25 locking lugs and 80 charging handles.

Others are 39 pistol-grip screws, 34 springs, 57 trigger groups, 66 foregrip latches, 45 foregrips or handguards, four pistol grips and five barrels.

The C-G said that criminal networks could exploit Nigeria’s borders, ports and airports to move prohibited items into the country ahead of the next general elections.

“We are about entering a major election cycle and we know that by this period, men of the underworld will want to use our borders, our ports, our airports to bring in items like this,” he said.

He said that the service would intensify surveillance and enforcement operations to prevent the movement of illicit arms and other prohibited items through the country’s entry points.

He reaffirmed the NCS commitment to intelligence-led enforcement, stronger border surveillance and collaboration with sister security agencies to dismantle arms-trafficking networks.

Adeniyi specifically cited collaboration with the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), in efforts to safeguard national security.

He said the seized firearms would be handed over to the NCCSALW following the completion of the inventory and assessment.

The C-G said that the development reflected the commitment of security agencies to removing dangerous weapons from circulation and ensuring that those behind the trafficking network were identified and brought to justice. (NAN)

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