Again! Customs at TinCan Intercepts 204 MAS 49 Alter Magnum pump-action rifles
Again! Customs at TinCan Intercepts 204 MAS 49 Alter Magnum pump-action rifles
By Jerry Aguigbo
The Nigeria Customs Service has yet again intercepted another round of Illicit Arms and light weapons totaling 204 at the TinCan Island Port. This was almost a rehash the 399 Jojef pump Action rifles seized a couple of weeks ago and handed over to National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapon(NCCSALW).
The Customs Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi represented at the event by DCG Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi said the consignment was intercepted based on credible information. According to Bomodi, a 20-foot container with No. TEMU 184536/9, arrived from Turkey aboard vessel MV Algeciras Express on 16 August 2026, was flagged and subjected to a 100 percent physical examination on 18 August, 2026. After thorough examination, the container was found to contain knocked-down firearm components concealed among declared used goods, including furnitures, refrigerators, solar panels and detergent.
Further discrepancies were also discovered in the consignment documents, particularly regarding the identity of the consignee. These discrepancies are part of the ongoing investigation into the shipment and those connected to it.
The Command immediately put together a team of experts from the Nigeria Customs Service Armament Unit and that of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Lights weapons, under the Office of the National Security Adviser, to carry out the assembling of these component parts and a total of 204 MAS 49 ALTER MAGNUM pump-action rifles alongside various numbers of left-over components were uncovered. The various leftover parts are listed, are:
39 Trigger Pin, 58 Locking Lugs, 53 Charging Handle, 55 Pistol Grip Screws, 56 Springs, 56 Trigger Group and
7. 38 Forward Grip (Hand Guard). Others are 67 Forward Grip Latch,
56 Pistol Grip, 54 Barrel and 2 U – Plate.
The CGC stated that the current seizure is a further indication that the Service is maintaining heightened surveillance and intelligence-led enforcement against the illicit movement of firearms through our ports and borders.
He disclosed that the items have been secured, documented and will be formally handed over to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons for appropriate statutory action.
“This operation underscores the importance of intelligence-sharing and collaboration between the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies. This whole of Government approach to the menace of Arms smuggling and other criminal activities at our ports and borders has proven to be very effective as attested to by this seizure.
Let me use this opportunity to reiterate the warning of the CGC to smugglers, arms traffickers and their collaborators that illegal arms will not find its way to the wrong end of the value chain and the space for concealment is becoming increasingly limited. Our risk management system is very robust and effective, there are no weak links in our architecture, so, those who believe that firearms can be disguised as household goods, concealed in containers or imported through false or inconsistent documentation should understand that intelligence-led enforcement, technological tools, profiling and inter-agency collaboration are making such schemes increasingly difficult to execute.”
Adeniyi said the Service will continue to collaborate with all relevant authorities to identify, intercept and investigate consignments that pose a threat to national security.
“We will also pursue the networks behind such consignments and not merely focus on the physical seizure of the prohibited items. Our objective is to expose the entire chain involved in the illicit movement of firearms from the source and shipment to the intended destination and beneficiaries. We also encourage members of the trading public, especially the clearing agents who may have any information that can lead to the arrest of would-be importers of these items to come forward. Their assistance in this regards should be considered a patriotic duty” he stated.
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