Nigeria Customs Service revealed Monday that donkeys and motorcycles have become tools for smuggling arms and ammunition into the country with the active collaboration of border communities.
Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Hameed Ali who revealed this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, said it was worrisome that Nigerians living in border communities were unaware of smuggling as an illegal business.
He added that the NCS was working on a policy to reduce the years on imported vehicles to ensure that Nigeria is not turned to a dumping ground for rickety automobiles.
He said, “we (Customs) are ready to do all within our powers to ensure that we block all the arms coming into this country.”
The Comptroller-General said scanners would soon be deployed in land borders “ as part of the measures to quickly know the contents of containers.”
”The influx of arms through approved routes will be completely eliminated at approved routes because we will have instruments to detect things in containers or whatever packages they are concealed in.
“But the issue is that arms do not come through approved routes alone. Some are carried on the back of donkeys coming in through unapproved routes and some on the back of motorcycles. Some of these communities in the border areas are part of the schemes of moving these things into this country,” he revealed.
