Posted by By PHILIP NWOSU on
The Nigerian Navy has impounded and handed over to the police, six ships allegedly used by bunkerers to scoop petroleum products from Nigeria's facilities in the Lagos area.
The Nigerian Navy has impounded and handed over to the police, six ships allegedly used by bunkerers to scoop petroleum products from Nigeria's facilities in the Lagos area.
The Chief Staff Officer of the Western Naval Command, in Lagos, Commodore Titus Awoyemi told Daily Sun that the vessels were arrested by operatives of the force attached to the NNS Beecroft in Apapa.
He said that the crew of the vessels had been handed over to the police for prosecution, explaining that the men were caught conducting illegal activities in the Lagos area when arrested.
He said the vessels were impounded within the last eight months, adding that the Nigerian Navy would not relent in its constitutional responsibility of ensuring that the water ways were safe.
Commodore Awoyemi, who was representing the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Ishaya Ibrahim warned pirates and hoodlums operating in the country's territorial waters to stay away or incur the wrath of the force.
Earlier, Admiral Ibrahim had inspected a parade mounted by officers and men of the force in Lagos area to commemorate the Nigerian Navy Week for 2007.
He urged officers and men of the force to ensure complete loyalty to the present government, adding that efforts are on by the hierarchy of the force to address their accommodation problems.
'The Nigerian Navy will continue to address your accommodation problems, which cannot be compromised. I also assure you that diligent, competent and committed individuals in the Nigerian Navy would continue to be rewarded accordingly," he added.