US govt indicts three men over attempts to export arms to Nigeria

The United States government has indicted three of its nationals for attempting to illegally export arms and ammunition to Nigeria.

In a document released by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland, on Friday, the suspects were listed as Wilson Nuyila Tita (45), Eric Fru Nji (40), and Wilson Che Fonguh (39).

The three men are residents of Maryland.

The suspects allegedly exported arms and ammunition without obtaining export licenses in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Reform Control Act.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging the men for conspiracy, violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Reform Control Act, related to the export of firearms and ammunition from the US to Nigeria.

If convicted, each defendant faces a mandatory sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy; a maximum of 20 years sentence each for violating the Arms Export Control Act and for violating the Export Control Reform Act; and a maximum of five years in prison for transportation of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The document read: “The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division.

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“According to the four-count indictment, from at least November 2017 through July 19, 2019, the defendants conspired with each other and with others to export from the United States to Nigeria defense articles and items identified on the United States Munitions List (‘USML’) and the Commerce Control List (‘CCL’) without first obtaining export licenses.

“The defendants also allegedly conspired to conceal from the United States that those items were being shipped from the Port of Baltimore in Maryland to Nigeria and at least one other location in Africa. The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly contributed funds for the purchase of firearms, ammunition, reloading materials, and other equipment for shipping overseas.

“The indictment alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators communicated about their efforts and plans to ship weapons and ammunition using an on-line encrypted messaging application and code words in order to conceal their activities.

As detailed in the indictment, the defendants and other conspirators concealed the firearms, ammunition, rifle scopes, and other items in heavily wrapped packages and duffle bags, and inside sealed compressor units, placing those items into a shipping container destined for Nigeria without obtaining the requisite licenses from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Further, as part of the conspiracy, one of the co-conspirators allegedly caused the submission of electronic export information to the U.S. government for the container which listed materially false information as to the identity of the exporter and the intermediate and ultimate consignee, as well as the ultimate destination of the container’s contents.”

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