The Niger/Kogi Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has formally transferred 189,000 illicit cartridges to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).
The large consignment comprising 7,560 packages containing 25 cartridges each was officially handed over on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, at the Command Headquarters in Minna by Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Mohammed Umar.
Customs originally intercepted the ammunition on 18 June 2018, but it remained in agency custody while court proceedings and administrative requirements were finalised.
Speaking at the event, Comptroller Umar emphasised that the handover aligns with directives from the Comptroller-General of Customs to step up border surveillance and frustrate illegal arms movements that fuel domestic insecurity.
“We will continue to strengthen border surveillance, intelligence gathering and inter-agency collaboration to prevent the illicit movement of arms and ammunition into the country,” Umar stated.
He noted that while the suspects connected to the 2018 seizure remain at large, active leads are still being pursued to bring them to justice.
Receiving the consignment, NCCSALW Zonal Director for the North Central Zone, Abdul Eneche, praised the NCS for its vigilance, noting that the agency has facilitated the destruction of over 19,000 illegal weapons since its establishment.
Eneche stressed that inter-agency cooperation and continuous intelligence sharing remain essential to cutting off the supply of contraband weapons to insurgents, kidnappers, and criminal syndicates across the nation.
