Nigerian Flight Deck Travel and Business Reportage
MURTALA Muhammed Airport (MMA), Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), today Wednesday apprehended a United States citizen who had not declared his firearms at the airport.
The male passenger who: names withheld, arrived the country aboard a United Airlines flight from Houston, United States at 10:10am, was said to have checked-in the firearms.
The handgun, a Barretta and 26 rounds of 9mm ammunition concealed in his luggage were recovered.
The passenger was also said to be in possession of two international passports; Nigerian and American.
Our correspondent learnt that the passenger did not declare the firearms as stipulated in international laws on firearms carriage.
A source confided in our correspondent that the passenger had some documents from the U.S, which allowed him to bear firearms, but the authenticity of the papers could not be ascertained.
According to a statement by the Service headquarters, the Lagos Airport Comptroller, CIS Kemi Nandap had stated that the Service received a credible intelligence that the passenger had boarded for Nigeria in Houston and had concealed a firearm in his luggage.
“Upon arrival we declared him a person of interest and contacted the Customs Service for a search on his luggages. The handgun and 26 rounds of 9mm ammunition were recovered from him.
As at the time of filing this report, the passenger was still going through interrogation at the immigration office at the airport and would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for further questioning.
The source said: “Officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service actually intercepted the passenger with the firearms during screening. So far, the passenger is undergoing scrutiny from the officials of the service and will be handed over to the relevant authorities after interrogation.
“Besides, we learnt that the passenger with dual citizenship has the approval of the US Government to carry firearms, but such should have been declared at the port of entry, which he didn’t do. However, we are yet to verify the documents he’s carrying.”
Congratulations to the NIS! Well done!