The discovery penultimate Tuesday by security operatives of 13 containers laden with weapons in the Apapa Port in Lagos, has once again brought the issue of the safety of our borders and seaports to the front burner.

The media had reported last week that 13 containers packed with explosives, hand grenades, rocket launchers, cartridges, carefully concealed in marble tiles, and wrapped in cellophane tapes were uncovered by security agencies at the Apapa Port.

The reports indicated that the vessel conveying the weaponry berthed at Apapa Port on July 10, discharged the cargoes and sailed off the nation’s shores on July 15, this year.

Though two persons are said to have been arrested in connection with the cargo, including the customs licenced agent, who facilitated the discharge of the containers from the vessel, much is still unknown about the country of first shipment, actual imports, and indeed, likely end user destination.

While some suggest that the shipment was concealed for The Gambia and only mistakenly found its way to Nigeria, others insist that the arms and ammunition belong to either Israel or the Palestinian war machine in the Gaza Strip.

Be that as it may, it is to us sad that at this stage of our development as a sovereign nation, our security agencies cannot provide specific answers to questions surrounding the origin and destination of the lethal cargo, a position which has left millions of Nigerians not only guessing but also panicky.

While The Tide acknowledges that the price of nationhood is eternal vigilance, it is inclined to condemn the various security agencies, whose task it is to secure the nation’s borders and seaports for failing to detect this dangerous shipment, which was carefully offloaded from a vessel at our country’s busiest seaport. We say so because we do not know how many of such shipments have found their way into the urban and rural centres across the country.

This position is informed by the fact that the security operatives are constitutionally mandated to safeguard our borders in order to check the proliferation of dangerous arms and ammunition, which pre-shipment details remain unclear.

Even so, The Tide finds it instructive to commend some security operatives through whose vigilance, commitment and exceptional patriotism led to the exposition of the 13 dangerous containers.

In doing so, however, the entire security apparatus should realise that much is still expected of them, especially at this most trying period of our nation’s history when we are preparing for another round of civilian-to-civilian elections.

The Tide insists that those behind the illegal arms importation, including the importer and customs licenced agent, are severely punished to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to take undue advantage of the observed lapses in our security network to militarise the nation and enrich their private pockets.

It is also pertinent to enjoin the Federal Government and other stakeholders to evolve strategies that would improve the security imperatives in maritime affairs.

For example, we recommend that the pre-shipment inspection exercise should be such that organisations so engaged are above board in their dealings while strategies that would ensure timely clearance of goods at the ports are put in place without compromising the nation’s security and the safety of its citizens.