The Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Command weekend intercepted a total of 238 military camouflage uniforms and 40 pieces of military hats imported to the country through the international wing of the airport.
Comptroller Michael Adewole, Area comptroller in charge of the command, said the exhibits were intercepted through a consignment which arrived the country via Turkish Airlines from Saudi Arabia.
Adewole explained that the goods were detected through the intelligence alertness of the officers on ground when they suspected a manifest that showed 37 packages filled with spare parts but in the course of cross checking they discovered that the items were not as hard as steel, neither were they heavy. Hence they decided to carry out a thorough check and surprisingly found that the goods were military uniforms with hats.
“Out of the 37 packages, the biggest of them was the one that had the military attire in them and we know this is what some people used in Jos when people were happy that these were soldiers not knowing that they were people intending to kill them.”
Adewole expressed fear over such illegal importation noting that the uniforms might be used to interrupt the upcoming 2011 general elections.
He called on the federal government to review NCS law so as to strengthen the agency and further empower it to serve the country better, while promising that the command will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that such illegal importations are curbed. He also urged clearing agents to be cautious of the kind of good they handle on behalf of their clients, stating that it has become increasingly difficult to apprehend importers of such items, because the current law in Nigeria only stipulates how the vehicle of carriage and the goods could be liable for seizure, without sufficient definition of what will happen to the importer.
“We are trying as much as possible to see how our law can be amended to enable us work effectively, because the laws allow you to seize the contraband goods,” he said. “Our law says the vehicle of carriage and the goods are all liable to seizure but there is no law that permits the owner of the vehicle of carriage to examine the luggage of the passengers they want to carry.”
Adewole also said he was collaborating with other agencies around the airport, including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), police, airline operators, to discourage the use of the airport as an entry point for prohibited items.
“And their only motive is to maim and kill; we have to discourage them to avoid such corrupt practices,” he said. “We want to warn that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport will not be used as a haven for such criminal activity,” he stressed.
The confiscated items were handed over to one of the representatives of Nigerian Army led by a Lieutenant General Ahmed Abdulkadirim who however declined comment on the issue.