UN team ends visit to Nigeria over Iranian arms shipment

[NewsCaster]

A TEAM of United Nations (UN) weapons experts has ended a nine-day visit to Nigeria to examine the seized Iranian weapons in the country and meet with top government and security officials.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Odein Ajumogobia, yesterday told reporters in the Abuja that the experts were impressed with Nigeria's "mature handling" of the issue.

The minister said the nine-member team recommended 'experience-sharing' of the issue with other members of the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in order to create awareness on ways of addressing similar issues.

His words: "They thought Nigeria acted in a model way and we could share the experience with other countries because we are all vulnerable to these things.

"One of their recommendations was that we could share the experience in the sub-region, since the shipment which came into Nigeria could have come through any country in the sub-region."

The nine-member UN team was led by Georgia's former Foreign Minister, Salome Zourabichvili, and is expected to report its findings to the UN Security Council.

The team met with top government officials in Abuja before flying to Lagos to inspect the arms, loaded in 13 shipping containers and tagged as building materials.

Nigerian authorities said the weapons originated from Iran, which is under UN sanctions that include a ban on arms export, over its nuclear programme.

Nigeria subsequently reported the discovery of the shipment to the UN, in line with the sanctions' requirements.

Four suspects, including one Iranian, have been charged to court in Nigeria over the arms shipment.

Source: UN team ends visit to Nigeria over Iranian arms shipment