TCIP COMMAND IMPOUNDS 204 FIREARMS AND PARTS AS COMMAND SEIZES 603 ARMS IN ONE MONTH

DCG Timi Bomodi making his speech at the occasion.

Story by Dili Utomi

Over the last one month, the Tin Can Island Port Command, Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted various amounts of firearms originating from different parts of the world. The trend continued today, the 31st of August 2026 as Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs, Timi Bomodi who represented the Comptroller-General of Customs headed the parade of seized Alter Magnum riffles at the Command.

The importation of various violence inducing items such as hard drugs and illegal medicaments as well as arms and ammunition into Nigeria is taking very alarming turn. This is because seizures such as these are becoming almost daily occurrence for most Nigerians.

The Customs Area Controller of the TCIP Command, Comptroller Joseph Anani while welcoming the guests at the occasion had noted that “we have continued to remain vigilant in the discharge of our responsibilities”. The CAC while explaining the painstaking efforts put in to record such succeses affirmed that “this is not the first time this month that we are coming together for an exercise of this nature. We have witnessed similar handovers, including the recent occasion when the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, handed over seized items to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons and illicit drugs to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA”.

Comptroller Anani also warned that these repeated seizures send a clear message that the Tin Can Island Port Command will not be a weak link in the enforcement of import prohibitions, particularly when it concerns dangerous items capable of threatening the peace and security of our nation. He reminded Nigerians thus, “let us remember that this is not simply about seized firearms. It is about protecting lives, preserving national security and ensuring that our ports serve legitimate trade and economic development not as channels for introducing instruments of violence into our communities”.

On his part, DCG Bomodi also referenced the 399 firearms that were earlier in the month seized, assembled and handed over by the CGC to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW). He informed the gathering that “Based on credible information gathered 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 furniture, refrigerators, solar panels and detergent”.

Some of the seized items.

Further operational duty by the Armament Unit of the NCS and in cooperation with the office of the NCCSALW led to the assembling of the seized 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 below as:

39 Trigger pins, 58 Locking lugs, 53 Charging handle, 55 Pistol grip screws, 56 Springs, 56 Trigger group, 38 Forward grip (Hand guard), 67 Forward grip klatch, 56 Pistol grip,, 54 Barrels and 2 U – PLates. The seized 204 forearms added to the earlier seized cache of arms bring the total arms seized in August to 603. The earlier seized 399 arms were made in Geogia and these freshly seized cache of arms were imported from Turkey.

DCG Bomodi warned arms traffickers and their collaborators that illegal arms will not find its way to the wrong end of the value chain and that the space for concealment is becoming increasingly limited. He added that the risk management system is very robust and effective, that there are no weak links in thier architecture. He admonished those who believe that firearms can be disguised as household goods, concealed in containers or imported through false or inconsistent documentation to understand that intelligence-led enforcement, technological tools, profiling and inter-agency collaboration are making such schemes increasingly difficult to execute.

Comptroller Anani in gloves, CP Alamutu in black jacket and DCG Bomodi speaking into the mic at the event.

The seized firearms were handed over to the retired Commissioner of Police Abiodun Alamutu, South West coordinator, NCCSALW. Before receiving the items , he had spoken eloquently about the efforts put in to achieve the level of success as being displayed on the day

He said ” We are here to witness the hand over of these seized items, the interception of these illegally imported firearms and the successful interception signify two things. One is the relentless efforts of the criminal elements in society to smuggle in these illicit arms and two, the unwavering efforts of the Nigeria Customs Service to interpt these weapons from getting into the hands of other criminally minded people that usually threaten the peace and development of our nation”.

CP Alamutu commends the unwavering efforts and tenacious hardwork of the Comptroller-General of Customs, the teamwork, vigilance and consistency of the Tin Can Island Port Command officers in intercepting the firearms.

During the questions and answers session, DCG Bomodi had volunteered that commonalities in the data obtained from previous and ongoing efforts in addition to good intelligence work had led to this particular seizure.

For advertisement and more information, please contact us 08027590195, 08035721540 or email us at greatalternativenigltd@gmail.com, diliutomi1@gmail.com. or send us messages on x @dn_utomi or on Instagram @utomidili.