By Jerry Uwah Lagos
After about three months of investigation, the federal government yesterday arraigned fi ve men for allegedly importing 661 pump-action rifl es into the country without lawful authority. Th e Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) impounded the container with the guns on the road in Lagos after they had been cleared by Customs offi cials at Apapa Port.
Th e accused were arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji at the Federal High Court in Lagos. Th ey are Mahmud Hassan, Oscar Okafor, Donatus Achinulo, Matthew Okoye, said be at large, and Salihu Danjuma. In the charge, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice said the accused brought the rifl es into the country from Turkey through the Apapa Port in Lagos, using a 40-feet container, which they falsely claimed contained steel doors. To facilitate the illegal importation, the accused allegedly forged a number of documents, including a bill of lading, a Form M and a Pre-Arrival Assessment Report.
Th e prosecution said that in bid to evade payment of Customs duty, the accused allegedly forged a bill of lading issued at Istanbul on January 9, 2017, falsely claiming that it was issued at Shanghai, China. In the forged bill of lading, they allegedly fi lled “steel door” as the content of the container instead of rifl es. Th ey were also said to have allegedly off ered a bribe of N400,000 to an offi cial of the Nigeria Customs Service attached to the Federal Operations Unit to infl uence the said offi cer not to conduct a “hundred per cent search on the 40-feet container with number PONU 825914/3.”
Th e prosecution also alleged that the fi rst accused, Hassan, corruptly gave N1m to government offi cials at the Apapa Port in order to prevent the search of the container by Customs offi cials. In the last count, the federal government alleged that the defendants had between 2012 and 2016 illegally imported several double-barreled shotguns, pump-action rifl es and singlebarreled shotguns into the country through Lagos.
Th e eight counts pressed against them border on conspiracy, importation of prohibited fi rearms, forgery, altering of forged documents, and bribery. Th e off ences were said to be contrary to sections 1(2) (c), 1(14) (a) (i) and 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Off ences Act Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2014. Th e accused, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them. Consequently, the prosecuting counsel, K. A. Fagbemi, applied for a date to commence trial, but urged the court to order that the accused should be remanded in the prison custody pending trial.
