Security & Safety
Blood Cargo: How Thousands of Illegal Weapons Flow Through Nigeria’s Ports — And the Men Who Let Them In
PART ONE: The Guns, The Ships, and the Shadow Network
WATERWAYSNEWS.NG | Ports & Security | Investigative Report Lagos/Abuja — February 2026
The wooden crates arrived at Tincan Island Port looking unremarkable — just another shipment of building materials. Listed on the manifest as plaster of Paris cement, the 20-foot container cleared preliminary checks and moved deeper into the terminal. It was only when Customs officers cracked open the bags that the truth emerged: packed inside 516 sacks of white powder were 440 pump-action rifles, their barrels oiled and ready for use.
That 2017 discovery — which eventually led to a landmark court conviction — is just one chapter in a far larger and more disturbing story: a story of industrial-scale weapons trafficking that exploits Nigeria’s ports, corrupts its officials, and feeds the violence tearing communities apart across the country.
1,599 Guns and a Handover That Tells a Bigger Story
On a Thursday morning in early 2026, officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) gathered at the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone “A” in Ikeja, Lagos, for a formal handover ceremony. On one side stood Customs officers. On the other, representatives of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), acting on behalf of National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who was represented by Johnson Kokumo, the NCCSALW Director General.
The inventory was sobering: 1,599 assorted firearms and 2,298 live cartridges, all seized during anti-smuggling operations. The weapons were transferred to NCCSALW for secure custody, ensuring they could not find their way back onto Nigerian streets or into the hands of the bandits and insurgents who have made whole regions of the country ungovernable.
The Comptroller-General of Customs used the occasion to highlight a significant legal milestone — the successful prosecution of Suit No. FHC/L/339C/2018 before the Federal High Court in Lagos. The court convicted Great James Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeuwa Moses Christ, and Emeka Umeh Festus, also known as Amankwa, on eight separate counts of arms importation offences. It was, officials declared, proof that the system could work.
But for many security analysts watching from the sidelines, one conviction offers thin comfort against the tide.
A Country Drowning in Illegal Guns
To understand why a handover of 1,599 firearms matters — and yet feels insufficient — one must understand the sheer scale of the crisis. Security researchers estimate that Nigeria may account for as much as 70 percent of the illicit small arms and light weapons circulating across West Africa. With an estimated 500 million illegal weapons on the continent, that figure points to over 350 million inside Nigeria’s borders alone.
The geography is part of the problem. Nigeria’s Minister of Interior has publicly acknowledged over 1,499 irregular entry points into the country, compared to just 84 official border crossings. In Adamawa State alone, approximately 25 illegal routes cut across the borders with neighbouring countries. The ECOWAS Protocol on free movement — designed to promote regional integration — has in practice also created corridors that arms traffickers exploit with ease.
But land borders tell only part of the story. Nigeria’s seaports — Apapa, Tincan Island, Onne, Calabar — have increasingly become entry points for military-grade weapons disguised as legitimate commercial cargo. The weapons do not walk themselves in. They need help.
Inside the Smuggling Playbook: How Guns Hide in Plain Sight
The methods are as varied as they are brazen. Weapons have been found hidden inside bags of cement, buried behind legitimate goods in 40-foot shipping containers, and declared under entirely false manifest descriptions. A favourite technique is to mix contraband with high-volume, low-scrutiny commodities — bulk goods whose weight and packaging offer natural camouflage.
The Tincan Island case is textbook. A clearing and forwarding agent, Emeka Umeh Festus, had used cloned documents in the name of Great James Oil and Gas Limited to obtain import paperwork from the Nigeria Customs Service. The weapons — sourced from Turkey — were arranged by Ifeuwa Moses Christ, who coordinated the overseas leg of the operation while local agents managed port logistics. They very nearly succeeded.
The July 2024 seizure at Onne Port in Port Harcourt followed a strikingly similar pattern. Customs officers intercepted 844 rifles — including 764 Tomahawk Jojef Magnum Black Pump Action Rifles and 10 Verney Caron Gunmakers models — alongside 112,500 rounds of live ammunition, all inside a container that had sailed from Turkey. Investigators found evidence that the importer had actually paid $2.7 million in duty for the container, in an apparent attempt to legitimise the cargo and move it through a private bonded terminal without attracting scrutiny.
It was a miscalculation that would lead to ten arrests.
The Insider Threat: When the Gatekeepers Open the Gate
The weapons could not flow at this scale without active complicity inside the system. Research by organisations including the Institute for Security Studies has established that Nigeria’s seaports and waterways have become hotspots for illicit firearms trade, networks involving not just foreign suppliers and local businessmen, but corrupt security personnel embedded within the port apparatus itself. Between 2010 and 2017 alone, an estimated 21.5 million weapons and rounds of ammunition were shipped into Nigeria through these channels.
Customs clearing agents are the first and most critical link in the chain. They prepare import documentation, liaise with shipping lines, and interact directly with port officials. A compromised agent can misclassify cargo, alter weight or content declarations, and steer containers towards sympathetic scanners — or away from X-ray machines altogether.
The rot often goes deeper. In 2013, a senior Customs official was arrested for allegedly facilitating the movement of trucks loaded with arms and ammunition for Boko Haram insurgents, one of the most explosive insider-complicity cases in Nigerian port history. A decade later, in 2023, two clearing agents — Shokunbi Olanrewaju of Shooler Global International Ltd and Joseph Nwadiodor — were detained at a Lagos port after arriving to take delivery of a container in which weapons had been concealed.
Following the 2024 Onne seizure, Customs authorities suspended the licences of all warehouses, terminals, and clearing agents involved. The principal suspect, Ali Samson Ofoma, was tracked down and arrested in Abuja alongside nine accomplices — including Okechukwu Gabriel Charles, Kingsley Mbibi, and Akinkuade Mayowa Segun. All now face prosecution.
Why It Is a Crime — And Why the Law Matters
The importation of firearms without authorisation has long been a criminal offence under Nigeria’s Firearms Act of 1959, which classifies weapons strictly and reserves military-grade arms for security agencies. To legally own a firearm, a private individual or organisation must obtain approval from the Inspector-General of Police or, in sensitive cases, the Presidency itself.
The rationale is straightforward. When weapons bypass this vetting framework, they go directly to actors the state has had no opportunity to scrutinise — criminal gangs, secessionist agitators, mercenaries, or foreign-backed armed factions. Each illegal rifle that enters the country is a potential instrument of homicide, community displacement, or mass atrocity.
Recognising that the 1959 framework was insufficient for a 21st-century security environment, President Bola Tinubu signed the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Act into law on June 4, 2024 — a landmark piece of legislation that provides a comprehensive legal backbone for interdiction, prosecution, and international cooperation on arms trafficking. It signals, at the highest level of government, that illegal weapons are a national security emergency, not merely a customs infraction.
The Human Cost Behind the Statistics
For the families in Zamfara displaced by bandits armed with AK-variants, for the traders in Anambra living under the shadow of unknown gunmen, for the farmers in the Middle Belt who cannot return to their land — the provenance of the weapons used against them is rarely known. What is known is the cost: lives lost, children orphaned, communities abandoned.
Many of the guns being used in those theatres of violence were once, at some point, exactly like the ones now sitting in a secured facility in Ikeja — anonymous items in an unmarked container, moving quietly through a busy port, relying on a falsified document and a complicit signature to complete their journey.
That is the story the 1,599 guns tell. Not just a customs success. A warning.
Part Two of this investigation examines how justice has been — and has not been — served in arms smuggling cases, and what Nigeria must now do to close the gaps that keep the blood cargo flowing.
— Waterwaysnews.ng | Ports & Security Investigative Desk
NIGERIA AND CAMEROON SIGN SEARCH AND RESCUE AGREEMENT — A WIN FOR REGIONAL SAFETY
The deal extends emergency cooperation beyond the skies, with implications for maritime and cross-border rescue operations across the Gulf of Guinea.
Nigeria and Cameroon have formalised a Technical Aeronautical Search and Rescue (SAR) Agreement, marking a significant step in cross-border emergency response cooperation between the two neighbouring nations.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo signed the agreement during a working visit to Cameroon, accompanied by the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo. The signing was confirmed in a statement by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood.
“Search and rescue cooperation is not simply a regulatory requirement under ICAO Annex 12; it is a humanitarian imperative and a moral responsibility” Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviatioon and Aerospace Space Development
Why It Matters Beyond Aviation
While framed as an aeronautical agreement, the deal carries broader significance for Nigeria’s maritime and coastal emergency response community. Nigeria and Cameroon share not only a land border but also overlapping maritime zones in the Gulf of Guinea — one of the world’s most strategically important and operationally challenging waterways. Strengthened SAR coordination between the two countries sets a precedent and a practical framework that could, in time, extend to joint maritime rescue operations in shared waters.
For Waterways News NG readers — port operators, shipping agents, seafarers, and maritime regulators — the agreement signals a regional shift toward more integrated emergency response, one that the maritime sector has long called for.
What the Agreement Does
The pact establishes clear communication protocols between the Rescue Coordination Centres (RCCs) of both countries, facilitates joint search and rescue operations, and strengthens rapid response mechanisms within their respective Search and Rescue Regions (SRRs). It brings both nations into closer alignment with international safety standards, particularly ICAO Annex 12, which governs SAR obligations for signatory states.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Keyamo was direct about the stakes involved. “Search and rescue cooperation is not simply a regulatory requirement under ICAO Annex 12; it is a humanitarian imperative and a moral responsibility,” he said.
He added: “In moments of distress, response time saves lives. Borders must never become barriers to humanitarian intervention.”
Framed Within the Tinubu Agenda
The agreement has been positioned by the Federal Government as part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which prioritises institutional strengthening, regional cooperation, economic revitalisation, and the protection of lives and property.
Keyamo described aviation — and by extension, the broader transport sector — as a strategic driver of economic growth and regional integration, while stressing that such growth must be grounded in safety and effective emergency preparedness.
“Today, Nigeria and Cameroon demonstrate that cooperation — not fragmentation — defines our regional approach to aviation safety,” the minister said, calling the agreement a practical expression of African solidarity and good neighbourliness.
A Building Block for Gulf of Guinea Cooperation
For the maritime community, the deal is worth watching closely. The Gulf of Guinea remains one of the most piracy-affected maritime regions in the world, and coordinated SAR capacity between Nigeria and Cameroon — two of its most significant coastal states — is a building block toward more robust regional maritime security architecture.
Nigeria’s maritime agency, NIMASA, has in recent years worked to strengthen its own SAR and anti-piracy capabilities through initiatives such as the Deep Blue Project. A complementary bilateral framework with Cameroon could reinforce those efforts and improve response times in the event of incidents near shared waters.
The agreement reinforces both countries’ commitment to international safety standards and, for those watching Nigeria’s place in regional maritime affairs, offers a quiet but meaningful signal of diplomatic momentum.
Waterways News NG will continue to track developments in Nigeria-Cameroon maritime and aviation cooperation.
— Waterways News NG | www.waterwaysnews.ng
MAERSK PULLS BACK FROM RED SEA AGAIN — WHAT IT MEANS FOR WEST AFRICAN SHIPPING
The world’s largest container line has reversed course on its Red Sea comeback, raising fresh concerns for Nigerian importers and shippers already navigating tight supply chains.
Danish shipping giant Maersk has announced a temporary withdrawal from the Suez–Red Sea corridor on two of its major services, just weeks after cautiously resuming transits through the troubled waterway.
In a customer advisory dated February 27, the carrier described the move as “temporary adjustments” affecting its ME11 and MECL services — but for cargo interests across West Africa, the implications could be anything but temporary.
Why Maersk Is Turning Back
The company cited what it called “unforeseen constraints” stemming from the wider operating environment in the Red Sea region. After consultations with security partners, Maersk concluded that reliably avoiding delays through the area had become too difficult to guarantee.
As a result, several upcoming voyages on both affected services will be diverted away from the Suez Canal and rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope — adding thousands of nautical miles, additional sailing days, and higher fuel costs to each voyage.
The Services Affected
The MECL service — an independently operated route linking Saudi Arabia and other Middle East ports with the U.S. East Coast — will see its next three eastbound and westbound sailings rerouted via southern Africa through mid-March.
More significantly, the ME11 service connecting India and the Middle East to the Mediterranean will have its next three westbound and four eastbound voyages diverted around the Cape. The ME11 operates under the Gemini Cooperation, the vessel-sharing alliance between Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, giving the decision added weight across the industry.
Maersk said it was giving customers three weeks’ notice to adjust supply chain plans, with updated transport schedules to follow.
A Fragile Return Unravels
The reversal is notable for its timing. Just over two weeks ago, a Maersk vessel completed the first eastbound Suez transit on the reinstated ME11 route — a carefully watched moment that many in the shipping world had hoped signalled a durable return to the corridor.
That optimism now appears premature. Earlier in January, Maersk had cautioned that sailings through the region would depend on stable security conditions and reliable naval protection. Those conditions, it now says, are not holding consistently enough.
Security Challenges Persist
The broader security picture in the Red Sea remains uneasy. Yemen’s Houthi movement has made intermittent threats, though no confirmed attacks on merchant vessels have been recorded since last September. Meanwhile, rising U.S.-Iran tensions and an expanded American naval presence in the Middle East have added layers of unpredictability to the region.
On the protection side, the European Union’s maritime security mission, Operation Aspides — which deploys three warships to escort commercial vessels through the corridor — was recently extended through February 2027. However, limited escort capacity has created scheduling bottlenecks, with French carrier CMA CGM previously flagging long waits for available naval cover as a major operational headache.
What This Means for Nigerian Shippers
For cargo stakeholders in Nigeria and across the Gulf of Guinea, renewed Red Sea disruptions carry direct consequences. Longer Cape of Good Hope routings push up transit times and freight costs — pressures that typically filter through to Nigerian importers and end consumers.
The ME11 service in particular feeds cargo flows between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, with knock-on effects for connecting services that serve West African ports. Any sustained return to Cape routing by major carriers would likely tighten vessel availability and complicate scheduling on feeder and direct services calling at Nigerian terminals.
Industry watchers say Maersk’s decision could prompt other carriers to slow or reconsider their own Red Sea comeback plans — further prolonging a disruption that has reshaped global shipping patterns since late 2023.
Maersk maintains the rerouting is short-term and continues to describe the Suez corridor as the fastest, most sustainable option for customers. But as confidence in the route proves fragile once again, the Cape of Good Hope remains, for now, the safer bet.
Waterways News NG will continue to monitor developments in the Red Sea and their implications for Nigerian and West African maritime trade.
— Waterways News NG | www.waterwaysnews.ng
CASABLANCA PORT SHUT DOWN AFTER VESSEL LOSES 85 CONTAINERS — SHIP SERVES NIGERIAN ROUTES
Port authorities in Morocco have suspended all vessel movements at the Port of Casablanca following a container overboard incident involving a ship that regularly calls at Nigerian ports.
Morocco’s National Ports Agency ordered the suspension at approximately 11:00 PM local time on Thursday, February 26, after the containership Ionikos lost an estimated 85 containers into the water near the harbour entrance while departing the port in heavy seas.
As of Friday, operations at one of Africa’s busiest container ports remained halted, with numerous boxes still reported floating in the channel, posing serious navigational hazards.
The Ionikos — a 52,427-deadweight-tonne vessel owned by Greek shipping interests and registered under the Liberian flag — is of particular interest to Nigerian shippers and port stakeholders. The ship operates on a service connecting Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean with ports in the Gulf of Guinea, including regular calls at Nigerian terminals and other West African destinations.
According to initial reports, the vessel had completed cargo operations in Casablanca and was bound for Barcelona when it encountered heavy swells on departure. The rough sea conditions caused the ship to roll violently, sending an estimated 85 containers overboard.
The Ionikos, built in 2009, measures 258 metres in length and has a capacity of 4,360 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The vessel is currently anchored approximately six nautical miles offshore as authorities assess the damage and coordinate recovery efforts.
An overnight search and recovery operation was launched involving five vessels from Morocco’s Royal Maritime Gendarmerie and Royal Navy, alongside helicopter aerial support. Officials noted that darkness hampered early efforts to locate and secure the drifting containers. Tugboats have since been stationed near several floating units to prevent further hazards to passing traffic.
Local media in Morocco reported that the lost containers were carrying a range of cargo, including car parts, furniture, and consumer goods. At least one container is reported to have broken open and washed ashore on a nearby beach, where boxes of Nestlé-branded cereal were found scattered.
The incident compounds operational difficulties already affecting the port this winter. Reports indicate that a series of storms and persistent Atlantic swells have disrupted maritime traffic at Casablanca in recent months.
Port authorities said vessel movements would resume only when conditions in the harbour channel are deemed safe for navigation.
The disruption is being monitored closely by Nigerian shipping agents and cargo interests given the vessel’s regular Gulf of Guinea service schedule. Waterways News NG will provide updates as the situation develops.
— Waterways News NG | www.waterwaysnews.ng
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Buba Audu
February 19, 2026 at 1:07 pm
This is very rich and detailed journalism.