Israeli Officials Says Seized Arms were heading to Gaza

Israeli officials have said that the military-grade armaments seized at the Apapa Wharf in Lagos state came from Iran and were bound for the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.

The military officials would however not provide evidence to support their claims, citing security concerns.
Back here in Nigeria, spokesman for Nigeria's customs service Mr Wale Adeniyi, says that the Mv Cma-Cgm Everest dropped the weapons off in July.


He adds that the ship last stopped at Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru port before coming to Nigeria and that security officials became suspicious of the containers as the shipment did not have proper documentation.
The containers have been on ground since July. There have been some attempts to clear them" for importation into Nigeria, Adeniyi said.

"We understand later that there was an application to re-export them."

He added that it initially appeared that the cargo was to have remained in Nigeria, he said.

The Everest, a cargo ship registered in the Marshall Islands, is chartered by Cma-Cgm, a shipping company based in France.

In a statement released onThursday, Cma-Cgm said the containers holding the weapons were owned by the firm that shipped them.

The shipping company said the manifest for the weapons described the shipment as "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone.

The Controller General of Customs Mr Abdullahi Dikko on his part told journalists in Lagos today that security agencies had been put on alert before the arrival of the cargo.

Meanwhile, investigations by Channels Television reveal that one brand of the seized weapons, the 107mm artillery rockets are manufactured by China, Iran and Russia, as well as the United States.

The rockets can be fired from launchers with multiple rockets, or individually as a mortar.

Insurgent rebels in Afghanistan and Iraq have used similar rockets against U.S troops.

Informed sources add that the rounds seen at the port bore English words, but no information about the manufacturer.

According to security experts, in the hands of highly trained troops, the rockets can accurately hit targets as far as eight and a half kilometers away, destroying everything within about 40 feet.

Mr. Peter Sharwood-Smith, Nigeria country manager for security firm, Drum Cussac, says that this is the first time anything like this is being brought into the country.

News Source: Channels Tv.

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