A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered that fifteen Russians should be remanded in prison custody as they await trial for unlawful importation of firearms and ammunition into Nigeria.
The foreigners were arraigned before Justice Okechukwu Okeke on a four-count charge of allegedly importing cache of firearms and ammunition into Nigeria without licence.
According to the prosecutor, Ernest Ezebilo, the accused persons and their vessel were arrested by Naval officers on 18 October 2012, within the Nigerian territorial waters, in Lagos state.
Defence Counsel, Chukwuwike Okafor has notified the court of a pending bail application and the accused persons have all pleaded not guilty to the charge while the matter was adjourned to February 25, 2013.
The accused are: Zhelyazkov Andrey, Savchenko Sergel, Chichkanov Vasily, Varlygin Igor, Komilov Alexander, Lopatin Alexey and Baranovskly Nikolay.
Others are: Mishin Pavel, Llia Shubov, Dimitry Bannyrh, Alexander Tsarikov, Kononov Sergel, Korotchenko Andrey, Vorobev Mikhail, and Stepan Oleksiuk.