THE huge consignment of arms and ammunition seized by security operatives in Lagos may have been intended for the Gaza-based militant outfit Hamas, Israeli media reported, quoting the country's defence officials on Thursday.

Following an intelligence tip off, security personnel impounded a shipment of 13 containers unloaded from an Iranian flagged vessel at the Lagos Ports on Tuesday.

An inspection of the consignment, listed as building materials, yielded several rocket launchers, grenades and other explosives.

According to reports, the Israeli mission in Lagos was in touch with one of the security agencies and the Nigerian Foreign Ministry as part of efforts to know more about the incident.

A preliminary probe into the incident indicated the possibility of a new route from Iran to Gaza through Africa.

Israeli defence officials said it could be that the close vigil mounted on Iranian ships prevented Tehran from sending arms to Hamas via the Red Sea.

Back in March 2009, Israeli Air Force jets strafed a convoy carrying weapons in Sudan on its way to Gaza. However, Israel refused to confirm its involvement in the attack.

Later in November, Israeli navy boarded the ship "Francop" in the Mediterranean Sea, which was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran to Syria.

Meanwhile, anyone who imports items capable of putting the security of Nigeria at risk would not be spared, the Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, said on Thursday.

The Customs boss who gave the warning in Apapa Port, Lagos, while making an on-the-spot assessment of the heavy weapons inside the 13 containers at the AP Moller Terminal, stressed that the service had put in place a clearing format which prioritised issues of national security above every other consideration, personal or economic.

“Let me assure you, we are operating an automated clearing procedure system which insists that certain conditions must be met before any item would be cleared. There is no way you can clear any cargo without the capturing of the Form ‘M’ and the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) and that was what happened with this cargo.

“This cargo did not come with Form ‘M’ it did not come with RAR and so our system automatically rejected it,” the Customs boss said, adding that there was indeed an attempt to clear it, but the Customs system rejected it and that was the beginning of trouble for the cargo.

“We have a very solid system. And it is part of the benefits of the system that we are seeing now,” he explained further, adding that a comprehensive investigation had already begun, and that the government would not rest on its oars until the culprits were apprehended and brought to book.

“We are talking of our national security. We don’t have any country other than this country. So, I can assure you that no government would treat this issue with kid gloves,” he indicated further, even as a seasoned freight forwarder, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, said he was at a loss at the intelligence of those who brought in such deadly cargo through the sea port, knowing the present security arrangement on the ground.

“I have seen some of the items in the containers. I can assure you, whoever brought them in was preparing for war. Nobody moves a thing like this through an approved seaport! I mean, it shows the level of their mentality,” he stated.

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