Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), in a statement yesterday, said that the service would meet with the Ambassador of Turkey to address the high rate of illegal importation of arms and ammunition from Turkey.
“Tomorrow, we will be having a diplomatic meeting with the Ambassador of Turkey specifically on this issue; this is one of the steps being taken outside the shores of the country to address this illicit trade.
Mr Ali, who confirmed that the command seized over 470 rifles earlier this week, added that in a time when Nigeria is faced with security challenges, it can not afford to allow dangerous weapons into the country.
“We have found out that the people bringing in these weapons are Nigerians. There are syndicates in Turkey who are manufacturing these weapons. We are yet to get to the bottom of the whole issue”.
“We will investigate to know if these weapons are meant for commercial purposes or group of insurgents or agitators”.
Over 2,500 arms, with three containers at different times, all coming from Turkey have been seized by Customs Service in the last eight months.