November 26, 2003

Senior customs officials have apparently grown apprehensive over the rising number of smuggling incidents involving arms and ammunition. The Nigeria Customs Service seized 38,000 cartridges being smuggled in a truck along Ore-Benin Expressway on the 24th, after seizing a similar shipment of 170,000 cartridges on the 17th. In both instances, the drivers of the cargo trucks ran off before the police were able to take them into custody.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army contingent manning the disputed Bakassi Peninsula has publicly complained about their inadequate pay. So have Nigerian military pensioners, who have not been paid in the last nine months. One of the worst things an African government can do while faced with internal strife is to alienate it's military by failing to keep them financially satisfied. - Adam Geibel