I Paid DSS, Others N1m To Smuggle 661 Rifles Out Of Port- Accused Reveals

One of the accused persons facing trial over illegal importation of 661 sophisticated pump action rifles, Mamudu Hassan, yesterday told a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, that he paid a sum of N1 million to officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) and other security agencies to smuggle the guns out of Apapa Ports.

Mamudu, who is a retired Assistant Comptroller of Customs, according to Vanguard, stated this in a recorded video during his interrogation by operatives of the DSS.

The video, recorded on March 27, 2017, was tendered by an operative of DSS, Jaiye Emmanuel at the resumed trial-within-trial. The video was admitted in evidence in the court, while further hearing continues today.

“I gave N1 million to facilitate the moving of the container out of port, but it is not because of the guns,” Mamudu said.

Giving a breakdown of how the N1 million was shared among DSS and other security agencies, he said:

“The examiners were given N200,000; C.I.O. N100,000; Enforcement N200,000; Police, SSS — between N20, 000, N25, 000, and N30, 000; the two gates — N200,000; Exit gate, N20,000, and final gate N50,000.”

Mamudu also revealed that he first agreed with the importer of the guns for N3.8 million, when he was first told that the consignments were steel doors, but raised the cost of clearing the consignment to N4 million, when he was told that the consignment included 661 pump action guns.

Mamudu and Salisu Danjuma, both custom officers, alongside Oscar Orkafor, Donatus Achinulo and Matthew Okoye, were arrest on January 30, 2017.

Subsequently, the Nigeria Customs Service on June 14, 2017, arraigned them before Justice Ayotunde Faji on charges of illegal importation of fire arms, conspiracy, forgery and altering of documents, offering of bribe to government officials and importation of prohibited goods.

They were also alleged to have forged the documents which include: two Bills of Lading, one reads ‘Shanghai China,’ as Port of Loading, instead of ‘Istanbul.’