By Ayo Ayodele
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted arms, ammunition, and industrial drones valued at over ₦377 million in a series of anti-smuggling operations across the Southwest.
Comptroller Mohammed Shuaibu, Controller of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A, disclosed the seizures on Tuesday while briefing journalists at the Unit’s headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos.
He said operatives intercepted a Nissan Almera vehicle along bush paths near Ilara, Ogun State, carrying 15 rifles—14 Italian-made JOJEF Magnum semi-automatics and a U.S.-made Mossberg pump-action shotgun—concealed inside bales of second-hand clothes and cartons of spaghetti. The consignment also included 4,841 rounds of live ammunition. The driver and a passenger abandoned the vehicle and escaped on sighting officers.
In a separate operation on the Akure-Ore axis in Ondo State, a patrol team stopped a Volkswagen Sprinter bus transporting two industrial drones hidden in a wooden box. One suspect was arrested, while the items were seized for lack of valid documentation.
Shuaibu stressed that importing arms and drones without End User Certificates from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) posed a grave security threat.
“These seizures demonstrate the Nigeria Customs Service’s unwavering commitment under the leadership of Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi to securing the nation’s borders from non-state actors,” he said.
The seized arms and drones will be handed over to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) for further investigation and prosecution.