By Uche Usim
The Nigeria Customs Service, Tin Can Island Port Command has denied media reports (not Daily Sun) about the disappearance of a vehicle with arms and am m munition.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos Thursday, the Customs Area Controller, Yusuf Bashar said a six-round revolver pistol and four shells of ammunition were found in a Toyota Solara sedan vehicle coming in from the United States last Saturday.
“Since it was a Saturday, the terminal operator (Five Star Logistics Limited) in charge of the terminal where the ship docked, detected the prohibited items. It was during checks on the vehicle to determine if what was on them manifest is what was shipped.
“The name of vessel is Sebrine Express. It carried 2,116 vehicles. As it is the usual practice, the Terminal Operator wrote us to intimate us on the finding. We wrote back asking them to hand over the vehicle, the pistol and the empty shells to us. During our scrutiny of the manifest, we detected another vehicle, a white Toyota Matrix sedan came in the importer’s name. So, the two vehicles are in our custody as investigations continue. We’re determined to track the importer because we know the security situation in our country. We’ve to be very vigilant in all we do.
We will handover the prohibited items to police after our investigation. Severally, we’ve discovered weapons in this command and given to police for further investigation”, Bashar explained.