The Nigerian Police Force, on Thursday said the ban on use of firearms by private individual and non state actors in Nigeria is still in force. The police also warned the public not to fall for the antics of gunrunners who may claim to have links with the police to facilitate a license for the use of arms for private individuals in the country, insisting that the embargo on licensing of firearms by the police is still subsisting.
Force PRO, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, gave this warning, while fielding questions from journalists during the monthly press briefing organised by Office of the National Security Adviser, and hosted by Nigeria Customs Service, under the auspices of Strategic Communications Interagency Policy Committee’s (SCIPC), of the security and response agencies.
This was as the Nigeria Customs Service explained the rationale behind its declaration of State of Emergency on Smuggling of Arms and Ammunition, as well as illicit drugs through Onne Port into the country.
The National Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Customs Service, Abdullahi Maiwada, offered this explanation while responding to questions on the whereabouts of the intercepted arms and the syndicate behind its illegal importation, during the joint press briefing.
Also, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), debunked the viral video of poor feeding of inmates across its facilities in the federation. Spokesperson of the Service, Abubakar Umar, who discredited the viral video, while responding to question on the subject matter, also stated that the matter is being investigated on the order of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. He further explained that the feeding allowance for inmates across the federation was reviewed upward by 50 percent in August.
The police spokesperson said: “If you want to get your personal arms, you need to wait until the government lifts the ban on the use of arms by non state actors. having possession of these prohibited firearms in whatever way, you want to call it, whether personal firearms, or whatever, you must process your license. Unfortunately, we are not giving out licenses for now. And don’t be deceived. There are certain individuals who will go and backdate licenses and give it you. It’s still fake”.
He counselled the public not to allow anybody to lead them into committing criminal offences, particularly when it comes to issue of arms, stressing “It’s not the same game we used to have. We are going to take it more serious, and we are going to go after those who are in possession of arms illegally”.
Noting that enough is enough, Adejobi said, “We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism, vandalism, or anything that will run down our system and affect the sovereignty of Nigeria as a collective heritage for all of us in this country”.
He said the Customs Service has been intercepting illegal importation of arms to the country, and have handed the same over to the appropriate authority.
On the whereabouts of the intercepted arms and those behind its Smuggling, Adejobi said: “I can say here that we have made some arrests and we are going to address the media on that soon. The National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, under the command of DIG Babatunde Kokumo rtd, at the Office of National Security Adviser, has done a lot in this regard. I’m sure we’re going to have a day to address the media on our journey so far concerning arrests made, other recoveries made and all other steps we are taking to make sure we cut these criminal acts in Nigeria”.
Giving further explanation on the state of emergency on Onne Port, Abdullahi Maiwada, said that in custom, they have prohibition by trade and have items that under schedule four are not supposed to come in completely.
He said: “If consistently we have seized arms and drugs in a port, the definition and the context of state of emergency is vigilance. It then means that we now have a role of trade facilitation and a role to suppress smuggling. So we are going to give emphasis on suppression of smuggling over trade facilitation in a state of emergency issue. So that’s just basically the context of that word state of emergency”.
He further explained that if some items that the service needs to move under fast track or move to bonded terminals without examination, “We are going to examine those items 100% because the consistency of importation of this kind of prohibited items is becoming alarming true Onne Port. We are not neglecting other ports”.