By Emma Ujah, Bureau Chief

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has heightened surveillance over arms influx ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The Comptroller-General (C-G) of Customs, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this while handing over 399 seized rifles to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) on Monday in Abuja.

He said the service had intensified surveillance and enforcement at Nigeria’s borders, ports and airports to prevent the influx of prohibited weapons.

The 399 fully assembled rifles were seized at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos recently.

Criminal elements, the C-G said, were trying to exploit the period to move arms into the country but warned that the Service was prepared to frustrate such moves.

The seized weapons were identified as Jojef rifles, which were discovered during a detailed examination of a suspected arms shipment.

The consignment also contained hundreds of additional rifle components, including frames, trigger groups, charging handles, foregrips and barrels.

Following the completion of inventory and assessment, the weapons were handed over to the Director General of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons under the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Two suspects arrested during the preliminary investigation have also been taken over by the NSA for further investigation.