By Stephen Ubanna
Bashir dewale Adeniyi, MFR, Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, who may have gotten much secret information on how the gunrunners operate as a former National Public Relation’s Officer, of the service who had worked closely with some former Comptroller General, is not ready to give a breather to the criminal elements.
The current NCS. Leadership may have been encouraged to further put a close tab on the shipment of cargoes, particular, arms and ammunitions into the Nigerian ports because of the recent moves by Ibrahim Traore, an Army Captain and Head of State of the West African country of Burkina Faso who now rely on Russia, Iran, Turkey, South Korea, and China for delivery of weapons bought elsewhere to his country and which could be diverted to another West African countries, Particular, Nigeria.
The activities of the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, in the north north eastern states of Borno, Yobe and the Bandits Group operating in the north western states of Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfar, described as home state of the Bandits, Sokoto and north central state of Niger and the ongoing political crisis in Rivers state may have made Nigeria a ready market to sell arms by the Turkish gun manufacturers and their distributors, worldwide.At present there are indications of inlux of Bandits from Burkina Faso into Nigeria as the country’s military had turned their guns on the extremists balling the government over the years.
Recall hat on April 18, 2024, the Burkinabebe government had unveiled its new range combat drone, Akinci to enhance the country’s defense capabilities against regional terrorist and insurgent groups. The Head of the Burkina Faso military Junta, Captain Traore, had said that the two Akinci drone shipment from Turkiye are part of a larger set of the European country armaments required by his home country, which also includes five Bayraktar TB2 drones and a variety of guided and unguided ammunitions.
Many believe that the introduction of the Akinci drones had given credence to BurkinaFaso ‘s increasing reliance on Turkish military products , indicating a shift towards new defense suppliers and partners which may affect other West African countries , including Nigeria , with illegal shipment of Pump Action Rifles and other killer weapons.
A security expert who spoke to The Value News on condition of anonymity disclosed that the Burkinabe imported arms and ammunitions are manufactured by the Turkish defense company Baykar, the Bayraktar Akincior Raider.
Last January the Asian country of China, ammunition manufacturing company Norinco , was said to have delivered a consignment of new military hard wares to the West African country which includes six WMA01s with a Command vehicle , along with eight norinco 81mm CS/SMI self-propelled mortars, a type that uses a Dongfeng light tactical vehicle which had not been seen in any country in the West and Central African sub-regions.
The Burkinabe military Leader had said that the series of shipping containers from the Chinese company had been filled with weapons and ammunition that included a 60mm WW90 mortar, mortar rounds and rounds for PG- type recoilless guns.
Until Burkina Faso turned its country as a dumping ground for Turkish and Chinese manufactured military weapons, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye was said to have concluded an arrangement for further cooperation in the defense industry with the then President Muhammadu Bihari ‘s Administration.
Informed sources had told The Value News online Magazine that the defense agreement had spelt out the principles of the mutual cooperation in the defense industry between the two countries or government agencies and private organisations that may be approved by the parties to engage in the importation of arms and ammunition to Nigeria. This is because the lethal weapons manufacturing Companies has been approved by the Turkish parliament‘s Foreign Relations Committee to sell arms and ammunitions to Nigeria.
There is currently a North American country of the United States, US, $2 billion volume of trade between Turkiye and Nigeria.In November 021, the Nigerian ministry of Defense had held a tender for the purchase of attack helicopters , at which Turkish Aerospace Industries was said to have submitted a bid for its T-129 Attack helicopter.But the Nigerian government was said to have settled to buy 12 US AH-IZ attack helicopters which the Defense Security Cooperation Agency , DSCA, under the country’s Department of Defense , was said to have delivered the certification notifying the Congress of the $1 billion deal in April 2022
There is no gain saying the fact that between 2017 and now , there have been several illegal shipment of pump Action or rifles from Turkiye to Nigeria market which had fallen into the waiting hands of the Customs personnel at the nation’s seaports.
The latest of such arms and ammunition shipment that was said to have fallen into the hands of Customs personnel was at the Federal Ocean Lighter Terminal, Onne, Rivers state.An elated Adeniyi, Comptroller General of NCS, whose Administration , had witnessed two major armament seizures: one at Tin can Island port and the latest being at the Onne port had revealed that the 40ft. container with registration number MAEU16596 which had carried the pump Action or riffles that had been discharged at he Onne port had originated from Turkiye.
The Customs helmsman had said that the ship carrying the 40ft Container loaded with arms and ammunition which had originated from Turkiye, had been under the surveillance of the service from the time it left the Turkish port and finally sailed to the Onne port to discharge its cargo in early June.
The no nonsense Customs Comptroller General had said that the Container was finally tracked and impounded on June 1, 2024, when the importer with his clearing agent had attempted ‘’to circumvent port protocols’’as the 100% physical examination which involves Customs and other security agencies personnel, including the Department of State Service, DSS, had discovered that the suspected Container had 844 units of rifles loaded in it.
Given a breakdown of the impounded and seized weapons at the Onne port, the Customs had said that it includes 764 units of Tomahawk Jojef Magnum Black Pump Action, Rifles, 10 units of VC Verney Caron Gun maker Double Barrel Rifles, , 20 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmaker Single Barrel Rifles, and Exclusive series, High-Quality Live Ammunition 34g-25 Plastic Shotgun shells , 70 MM.
The Pump Action Rfles loaded in the physically examined 40 ft. container was said to have been concealed using various items such as doors, furniture , plumbing fittings and leather bags.Valuation experts had put the Duty paid Value, DPV, of the seized arms and ammunitions at about N4.2 billion.
The Customs Comptroller General, may have gladdened the heart of Nigerians when he stated that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the imported lethal weapons from Turkiye and are currently in Customs custody while investigations are still ongoing ‘’to decipher the circumstances surrounding the shipment’’.
Security experts believe that if the Turkish Authorities, as represented by Mr. Hakan Cakil, a former Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, had kept to pro the mise made to Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel and immediate past Customs Comptroller General of NCS, to launch an investigation ‘’to fish out those behind the illegal importation of firearms from Turkiye to Nigeria’’, the gunrunners would have stopped further illegal shipment of arms into the Nigerian market.
As at the time the then Turkish Ambassador made the promise on behalf of his home government in 2017, the service had made a seizure of 61 Pump Action Rifles at the Tin can Island port shipped into Nigeria from Turkiye.
The fear in both official and unofficial circles was that the different arms and ammunitions seizures between 2017 and now, from one source, clearly suggests ‘’the complicity of Turkish officials to the deal’’. Nigerians are watching to see how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will handle the matter with his Turkish Counterpart, Erdogan, to avoid a repeat of such illegal arms and ammunition shipment to Nigeria in the future.
