A tweep shared a post (see below) on the 5th of March 2020 with the caption “Armes saisies au port de Dar-Salam á destination de Tanganyika chez Zoé kabila” which translates to “Weapons seized at the port of Dar-Salam bound for Tanganyika at Zoé kabila.”
Armes saisies au port de Dar-Salam à destination de Tanganyika chez Zoé kabila pic.twitter.com/2aj9jZLNpm
— Pierre Wa Kapia Katumba Kabuya (@KapiaWa) March 5, 2020
Background
Dar es Salaam port is Tanzania’s principal port with a rated capacity of 4.1 million dry cargo and 6 million bulk liquid cargo. It handles about 95% of the Tanzania international trade and serves the landlocked countries of Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. The port is strategically placed to serve as a convenient freight linkage not only to and from East and Central African countries but also to middle and Far East, Europe, Australia and America.
Have any weapons been impounded at this port?
Verification
Image searches show that the pictures were from one of Nigeria’s busiest seaports, Tin Can Island port in Lagos. The illegal weapons had been concealed and falsely declared as plaster of Paris before the consignment was intercepted in May 2017.
The Nigerian Customs Service posted the same pictures on Facebook with details contained in this statement on the 23rd of May 2017. The pictures were taken during a media briefing organized by customs officials.
TINCAN ISLAND PORT INTERCEPTS LARGE QUANTITY OFPUMP ACTION RIFFLES CONCEALED WITH POP CEMENT Sequel to the renewed…
Posted by Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Reports show that the same images had been used in 2019 claiming that the weapons were being shipped from France to Mali. Others claimed that the weapons were sent from France to Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, claims that have since been debunked.
Verdict
Claims that weapons bound for Tanganyika have been seized at the port of Dar es Salaam are FALSE.
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