The government should make sure that the importers of these illegal arms should be unmasked and brought to justice. This is the only way to give citizens a sense of security. Since guns cannot be owned without a license in Nigeria, there must be a national design to mop up the weapons in the hands of criminals and politicians. All guns mopped up should be destroyed to prevent criminals from gaining access to them again. There is also need for government to deploy technology to enhance checks and scrutiny at the airport, seaport and land borders to stem the tide of infiltration of illegal weapons in the country. Nigerian citizens have a right to maximum security which is what the government owe the people.
Firstly, government should make sure the culprits that have been caught in the act are prosecuted. This will serve as a deterrent to those who want to venture into such acts. Secondly, these arms come from a source; it could be through inter-government intervention like guards, general agreement on tariffs and trade and international conventions that binds trading countries together. Government should look into the agreement and see where there are lapses and fix it appropriately. Thirdly, the faulty scanners at our ports also add to this influx because during physical examination some customs officers may compromise with importers but if the scanners were working effectively, immediately a container is placed on a scanner, everything in it will be detected. The scanner is not a trade tool; it is a security toolthat is meant to be in all ports to look through all containers coming into the ports with the view of detecting those things that are harmful to the nation. If the scanners in our ports are functional, it will go a long way in reducing the influx of arms into the country.
The government should be pro-active in reducing crime across the country and not be biased in bringing offenders to justice. The country’s ability to combat social vices through an un-biased criminal justice is highly predicated on the availability and presence of an experienced and honest police force. If corruption is the bane of the Nigeria Customs Service, which is the mind-set of most Nigerians, it means the government must purge the customs of corruption, overhaul and reform them. For any nation to thrive in democratic governance, an un-biased and corrupt -free customs is a sine-qua-non.
This incident of illegal arms should not be swept under the carpet. The Federal Government should immediately give a report to the public within a reasonable time frame on the outcome of its arrests. Except this is done, the public would be compelled to think that there is outright connivance between men in high places in government and the scoundrels who have illegally imported the arms. Also, the culprits involved in the latest high level security breach must be brought to book.
The 100 percent physical examination done by Customs at the port should be worked on properly. The government should ensure that every container that comes into the country is examined before release especially cargoes that are going outside the port to bonded terminals. They must also be followed up so that issues of illegal arms would not come up. Once the examination at the port is secured, then people will stop illegal goods importation.
