The Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command of the Nigerian Customs Service on Friday handed over two seized civil model Bell helicopters, specially configured for military operations, to the Nigerian Air Force. The helicopters were allegedly illegally imported into the country by unknown persons.
Customs Area Controller, Frank Allanah told journalists that the helicopters were handed over to NAF due to the inability of the yet-to-be-identified importers to produce end user certificate from the office of the National Security Adviser – in contravention of Section 36 ( 2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act. The seizure was effected on November 7, 2016 in line with section 46 of CEMA, he said.
Mr. Allanah estimated the value of the two helicopters and other accessories to be over N9.7bn.
He said, “The helicopters were flown in as a consignment with Airway Bill Number 17232444403 into the country through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
“The choppers were detained at the Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited shed pending fulfillment of all legal requirements for the importation.”
In his view, the choppers would be useful to the Nigerian Air Force in the fight against insurgency as they were specially designed for such operations .
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar also confirmed, while speaking at the hand-over ceremony, that the configuration of the aircraft was fitted for military combat operations.
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