·Escaping with 7 vessels before Navy arrested them

By Evelyn Usman

Attempt by suspected illegal bunkerers and crude oil thieves to move seven vessels loaded with crude oil and AGO , out of the country has been foiled by operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS  Beecroft,  Apapa, Lagos.

Consequently, seven Sri-Lankans , 57 Nigerians and two Ghanians onboard the  vessels were arrested and the products recovered.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspected stolen crude oil  was at the verge of being  exported to Morroco, Ghana and Togo, among other ciountries, where ready buyers were waiting to transload them.

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The arrests  were  made between December 3, 2019 and December 30, 2019. The Commander , NNS  Beecroft , Commodore Ibrahim Shettima, who briefed journalists shortly after they were conducted round  the location where the arrested vessels  and their crew members were  birthed around Kirikiri area of Lagos, said the feat was achieved following the Chief of Naval Staff  startegic guaidiance to increase operational potency of the Nigerian Navy in curbing illegalactivities within the country’s maritime  environment.

Giving a break down of the recovered products, Commodore Shettima, said, “  One of the vessels, MV TIM BEGELE , with a crew of 11 Nigerians was arrested on December 3, 2019, with 318 Metric tonnes of AGO.  MT  ZEEBRUGGE, crewed by seven Sri-Lankans, with  838 metric tones of crude oil , was arrested on December 12, 2019.

Also , MT JONKO, was arrested on December 21, 2019, laden with 1,077 metric tones  of crude oil, with a crew of 11 Nigerians.
MV EKPERE AMAKA, was also arresed on December 25, 2019 with eight Nigerians on board. She was laden with 85 metric tones of AGO;  MV Ella had a Ghanian and six Nigerians on board. She was arrested on December 19, 2019  with 100 metric tones of AGO. MT  IBIM was arrested on December 27, 2019, laden with 810.5 metric tones of crude oil and 14 Nigerians on board.  MV LAIDA was crewed by one Ghanian and seven Nigerians, carrying 180 metro tionnes of AGO. She was arrested on December 30, 2019.
“ After diligent investigation, it was revelaed that most of the vessels  were enroute neigbouring countries with their illegally acquired products. Specifically, four vessels were  going to Ghana , while two were going to Togo.

“It is petinent to state that the CNS is determined to extend the fight on illegally acquired crude and its products from the creeks to the high seas in order to deny  criminals freedom of action to acquire and sell products to local and foreign clients”

I was forced  to come  to Nigeria  – Sri-Lankan Captain
During the visit to the location of the  arrested vessels , some of the crew members displayed a non challant attitude towards the crime.
For instance ,   Captain  of MT  ZEEBRUGGE, Yepa KAJ, a Sri-Lankan, revelaed that he sailed all the way from Morrocco to Nigeria, to get the product. Asked where precisely he collected the product, he could not state nor  give the description of the location.
Rather, he  simply stated that “ I do not understand the terrain. This is my first time in Nigeria. I was only given a directive to come here and take the cargo. I don’t know Nigeria’s law. I was forced to come.

“ I navigareted 3,300 nautrical miles from Morroco  to Nigeria. When I got here, I was given a telephone number to contact someone , who  loaded the product into my vessel. I don’t know what type of product it is.  I was instruted to take it  to Ghana. I was on my  when naval personnel intercepted me at  midnight”
Captain Kapila who gave the name of the company he works for as Vellie maritime , also could not state who  or what he was going to do with the product in Ghana.  He simply stated that “ the directive was that when I get to anchorage in Ghana, the Operation Manager of my company would call to tell me what next to do. My company is in Greece and I have been sailing since 1990.

The product was meant for crew’s insentive – Nigerian Captain
On his part,  Captain of MT JONKO vessel, a Nigerian who identified himself as Umoh Akaniyeren , described the 1,077 metric tonnes of AGO laden in his vessel as an insentive for  crew members.

Like the Sri Lanka’s captain, he stated that he was also directed to go and load the product.

Hear him: “ I went for an ROB ( Reminant on Board ) operation between Cameroun and Nigerian waters ROB is what we call step aside, from normal cargo. It is meant for the crew members , it is their own insentive attached to the operation.

“ I work  for  Mr Buruno Anyamo. I didn’t go on my own to get the product,  I was instructed. After receiving the cargo, I was going to Lome  with the  LPFO  prodcut  otherwise called  burning light, only to be attacked by sea pirates . My auxilary generation broke  down in the process  because they marched all of us to my deck where they kept us for close to three or  four hours and my power generating set  ran down because there was  no engine oil. For that reason I tried  to manage the other  power generating set  and had to come out of the deep sea  for safety  reasons in case of any emergency .

While I was coming,  I came across the Nigerian Navy ship boat, she called me and asked some questions. I told them  that my AIS was on. Some of the personnel  came to check and discovered it was  on but I had issue of transmission.  That was how I was arrested. My job is to transport the product. I was meant to take it to Lome and  wait for further instruction from my boss, on  either to do another STS or as the case may be”

The vessels according to Commodore Shettima,  were in the process of being handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for prosecution.

Vanguard