The Nigerian Navy has arrested 23 persons, comprising
10 Indians, two Ghanaians and 11 Nigerians, for alleged illegal oil
bunkering in Bayelsa State.
The suspects were on Monday evening at the Central
Naval Command in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State handed over to operatives of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution.
Deputy Detective Superintendent, Mr. Macaulay
Olayinka, led the EFCC operatives from the commission’s Port Harcourt
zonal office.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspects were arrested on board two vessels, MT EVE and MT ASHKAY, in Akasa and Sangana rivers respectively.
The Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command,
Rear Admiral Johnson Olutoyin, while handing over the suspects, said the
Indians and two Nigerians were apprehended when a naval ship, NNS Predator, intercepted MT ASHKAY.
He said the ship and the suspects were arrested off Sangana River with cargo suspected to be stolen crude oil.
Olutoyin said the vessel, formally christened Wine
Trader was owned by Krishna Shipping Inc. and operated by Veesham
Shipping Inc.
He said, “The product on board MT ASHKAY is suspected to be stolen crude of about 157,822 litres in her cargo tanks without papers to justify the cargo.
“Moreover, the tanker is not listed in the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation Tanker Nomination Schedule and she does
not have the Nigerian Port Authority’s Bunkering Permit or the Joint
Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield certificate of registration.”
Olutoyin added that the Naval Headquarters arrested the Ghanaians and nine other Nigerians when MT EVE was impounded at the Akasa River for operating outside her base.
He noted that while the Navy granted the vessel a
permit to carry out oil operations in Port Harcourt, she was found at
Akasa River in Bayelsa State.
The vessel, he added, was later found with Automative
Gas Oil suspected to have been bought from illegal refinery operators
in the area.
The naval chief said, “The exact quantity of AGO on
board the tanker as at the time of arrest is unknown but the captain
maintains the quantity the tanker is carrying is 75,000 litres.
“The captain of the tanker could not explain the
source of the product but stated that he loaded the product at Akasa.
Laboratory analysis of the sample of the product from the tanker shows
that the AGO product on board is of a poor diesel quality.”
Olutoyin, who handed over the vessels and other
items, including the passports of foreigners to the EFCC, said the
anti-graft agency would carry out further investigations to determine
the culpability of the suspects.
He added, “We will conclude investigations and charge
them to court if they are culpable. Again, with the existing
partnership between the EFCC and other security agencies, there is no
hiding place for oil thieves.”
PUNCH
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