The Federal Government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with its Turkish counterpart to curtail the alarming influx of arms, ammunitions and illicit cargoes into the country. The MoU was signed by the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Services, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The Comptroller accused foreign shipping firms operating in the country of aiding and abetting illegal importation of arms and ammunition into the country.
He disclosed that the MoU between the two countries would allow Turkey to transmit to the NCS all import details of cargoes before they arrive the country. He added that the Customs has handed over list of prohibited items to its Turkish counterpart.
"The issue of being ignorant of the content of the container will no more be acceptable. Carrying out examination on unpalletized cargoes is always a problem as palletization of containerized cargoes makes cargo examination easy and faster. We looked at issues affecting the maritime industry especially with regards to shipment of arms and that was why we invited the shipping lines and other stakeholders.
We have sat down, we have listened, we have resolved with stakeholders that we will work together and they have given us their commitment. There were issues that were raised when I spoke at the opening of the meeting which brought issues like manifest and midstream transfer to the fore and the shipping companies have given suggestion on how best we can approach these issues.”