Navy arrests 20 suspects

By EVELYN USMAN
LAGOS—The Nigerian Navy, weekend, arrested 20 suspects including a woman after it raided   some criminal hide-outs in the Apapa area of Lagos.

The suspects are believed to perpetrate all manner of  illegalities on the nation’s waterway.

During the three-hour raid, which was carried out in conjunction with the Apapa Local Government Waste Management and Environmental Service Department, the suspects  reportedly attacked officials of the council in their bid to escape.

The officials’ operational vehicle’s windscreen was also smashed by the suspects.

Areas raided included Leventis Road, Dockyard Road and other hideouts close to the rail crossing line behind Marine Beach.

The raid, the Western Navy Command Information Officer, Lieutenant-Commander Jerry Omodara, explained, was the second in three weeks.

He said: “The Nigerian Navy discovered that all sorts of criminal activities take place daily in these areas, especially at night, including prostitution, gambling, joint for Indian hemp smokers and sale spot for cocaine. The place is also a take-off point for armed robbers.”

“It was also discovered that people have built illegal structures in the area while abandoned trucks and kiosks were converted to living quarters. The Nigerian Navy had in recent past raided the place and arrested people with arms, cocaine and Indian hemp.”

He said that during a similar raid in March, 11 suspected drug peddlers were arrested and handed over to National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.

Commander, Nigerian Navy Service Beecroft, Commodore Martins Njoku,  who was present during the raid, warned those using the areas for illegalities to keep away, warning that the Navy will not condone any form of illegalities in the area. He advised  youths to avoid criminal activities that would  bring dishonor to their families.