The Nigeria Customs Service has charged a man to court for allegedly importing 1, 570 pump action rifles into the country.
The man identified as Ayogu James was arraigned on Tuesday before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly importing the weapons from Istanbul, Turkey.
The customs told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the accused had shipped the firearms into the country through the Apapa Seaport, Lagos, using two 20-foot containers marked, GESU 2555208 and CMAU 1878178.
James allegedly turned up to claim the containers lying that they were filled with washbasins and water closets from China rather than Istanbul in Turkey.
Nigeria Customs further accused James of forging a Form M and a Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, marked MF 20170080364 and CN20170768490/001, respectively, to disguise the true content of the containers as well as their country of origin.
While laying out its case before the court, the counsel for the prosecution, Julius Ajakaiye, told the court that James had committed the offence alongside an accomplice identified as Emeka Festus also known as Amankwa.
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According to the customs, the duo had committed the offence in September 2017.
James was arraigned alongside his company, Great James Oil and Gas Limited on 11 counts before Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The prosecutor, Ajakaiye, said further that the defendants acted contrary to sections 3(6), 1(14)(a), 1(14)(a)(i), 1(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap. M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and were liable to be punished under the same law.
The defendants James and his firm, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Consequently Justice Saidu ordered that he should be remanded in custody based on Not Guilty Plea, while he adjourned the case till November 20 and 21, 2018.