LAGOS, Oct. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A large quantity of bullets for AK-47 and FN rifles have been stolen from a Nigerian army armory in the country's commercial city Lagos, Nigeria's private Daily Sun newspaper reported Monday.

    But army spokesman Alade Dabiri denied the story, telling Xinhua that "it's not true."

    The newspaper however quoted "a key military source" as saying that the ammunition, including 7.6mm and 9mm, which can be fired from AK 47 and FN rifles, commonly used in the Nigerian Armed Forces, were stolen from the Ikeja Military Cantonment despite heavy security presence.

    The Nigerian army was yet to determine the quantity of the ammunition missing, but the source said the quantity was large, itreported.

    The force has thrown its dragnet wide around the cantonment, insearch of the thieves, it said.

    A civilian, almost walking out of the cantonment with stolen ammunition, has been arrested and some soldiers deployed to guard the armory are being questioned on the matter, said the newspaper.

    "The source said that upon interrogation, the civilian confessed to involvement of some other civilians, currently being sought by the army," it said.

    The incident was reminiscent of the ammunition dump explosion in January 2002 in Lagos, in which hundreds of people were killed,the report said.

    Shrapnel and heavy artillery, including bombs, rained on streets and roofs of houses in the neighborhood after the ammunition stored at the Ikeja Military Cantonment caught fire then. Many buildings were affected by the flying shrapnel. Enditem