Immigration arrests passenger with firearms at Lagos Airport

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos Command on Wednesday morning intercepted an American citizen with firearms at the airport.

The male passenger (names withheld), arrived the country aboard a United Airlines flight from Houston, United States at 10:10am.

He was said to be in possession of two international passports – Nigerian and American.

A source close to the Lagos Airport said that the American citizen did not declare the firearms as stipulated in international laws on firearms carriage.

Another source said that the passenger had some documents from the U.S, which allowed him to carry firearms, but the authenticity of the papers could not be ascertained.

As of the time of filing this report, the passenger was still going through interrogation at the immigration office at the airport and would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for further questioning.

The source said: “Officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service actually intercepted the passenger with the firearms during screening. So far, the passenger is undergoing scrutiny from the officials of the service and will be handed over to the relevant authorities after interrogation.

“Besides, we learnt that the passenger with dual citizenship has the approval of the US Government to carry firearms, but such should have been declared at the port of entry, which he didn’t do. However, we are yet to verify the documents he’s carrying.”

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.