The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Navy

  • Oil theft: Navy hands over three Beninnois, Nigerian

    The Nigerian Navy (NN) on Friday handed over three Beninnois and a Nigerian arrested for alleged pipeline vandalism to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    The suspects who had 218 kegs of 25 litres each laden with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in their possession, were arrested around the Badagry creeks by operatives of the Nigerian Army (NA).

    They arrested persons are – Francis Agbaje (20), Erum Jack (24), Mathew Apaton (23) and John Honfo, (24).

    In his handover speech, the Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT, Commodore Abraham Adaji, said the suspects were nabbed on May 9, at the Suntan Beach in Igbologun Community in Badagry.

    He said: “The suspects were arrested with 218 jerry cans of 25 litres each of petrol by the soldiers of the 9th Brigade, Nigerian Army attached to the OP-MESA, following a tip-off.

    “The vandals were arrested on May 10 along Badagry waterways for illegally dealing in petroleum products suspected to have been scooped from vandalised pipeline.”

     

  • Navy confirms attack on Chevron platform

    The Nigerian Navy has confirmed that a Chevron platform at Escravos, Delta State, was attacked on Wednesday night.

    Naval Spokesman, Comdre Chris Ezekobe, said the attack occurred about 40 nautical miles from the Escravos terminal.

    Ezekobe, who did not mention a group responsible for the attack, said the incident cut short gas and crude oil production.

    But the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), claimed responsibility for the attack on the Chevron platform.

    The group in an electronic statement signed by one ‘Col.’ Madoch Agbinibo, said at about 10:40pm on Wednesday its fighters blew up the Chevron valve platform.

    The group said it was taking its fight off the creeks to Lagos and Abuja and advised oil firms not to rely on the country’s security.

    The statement said: “This platform is the most significant platform for Chevron because it’s the main connecting point where all other platforms linked up and it’s a fulcrum to chevron BOP and the Chevron Tank farm. With the valve platform blown all Chevron’s activities are now halted.

    “This is what we promised the Nigerian Government that since they refuse to listen to us, we are going to zero the economy of the country.

    “As for zeroing the Nigerian economy, we the Niger Delta avengers is done with Delta State major oil installations. Now we are taking the fight out of the creeks to the Niger Delta. We are taking it to Abuja and Lagos now.

    “We want to pass this message to the all international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta that the Nigeria military can’t protect you facilities. They should talk to the federal government to meet our demands else more mishaps will befall their installations.”

  • Navy arrests 221 persons, 25 vessels in seven months

    At least 221 persons and 25 vessels have been arrested by operatives of the Nigerian Navy within the last seven months in Lagos area.

    This disclosure was made by the former Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Raphael Osondu, at a farewell parade held in his honour at the command’s headquarters in Apapa.

    Osondu, who handed over to Rear Admiral Ferguson Bobai, also disclosed that about 150 thousand litres of assorted petroleum products were recovered during the seven months he steered the ship of the command.

    He said, “In the past seven months, the command has worked hard to meet the requirements of the Chief of Naval Staff’s (CNS) Strategic Directive 2015-1 by discharging NN roles in its area of responsibility in line with global best practices.

    “The command carefully analysed the prevailing contemporary security situation in the country and came up with robust policing duties, sustained internal security operations, guidelines for prudent use of resources as well as improved welfare programmes.

    “In demonstration of its robust policing duties, the command arrested 25 ships and boats of various make and sizes and about 150 thousand litres of assorted products. We arrested 221 persons for various offences ranging from pipeline vandalism, piracy and illegal bunkering of petroleum products.

    “With the help of the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) and FALCON EYE, we monitored our waters and arrested those suspected to have infringed on maritime domain.

    “We also have a formidable work force at the command. We have been cohesive and I appreciate the officers and men under the command because throughout my stay, there was no case of gross indiscipline and I did not have cause to court martial anyone.

    “The command is currently engaged in Operation AWATSE, with the maritime component deployed to Arepo (Ogun State) and Ikorodu (Lagos) respectively, which recorded several arrests and seizures. I can tell you that the spate of pipeline vandalism has reduced in those areas. Even in Atlas Cove we are doing a lot.”

  • Fake Navy officer declared wanted

    Fake Navy officer declared wanted

    The Nigerian Navy on Monday declared wanted a certain “Captain Olugboyega Olubiyi Ayokunle” for impersonating the Force and illegal possession of firearms.

    Olugboyega was reported to have collected N100,000 mobilisation fee from Olugbemiga Ayeni to investigate an alleged fraudulent deal involving another naval personnel identified as Prince Ayeni.

    But the Navy in a statement issued on Monday by Director of Naval Information, Commodore Chris Ezekobe, described Olugboyega as an impostor, adding that the said Prince Ayeni was also not a naval personnel.

    The statement said, “In view of the report and a formal complaint forwarded to the Naval Headquarters by Olugbemiga Ayeni on the behavior of the said “Captain Olugboyega Olubiyi Ayokunle,” the Nigerian Navy carried out a thorough investigation on the identity of the names mentioned and discovered that the men who are parading as officers of the Nigerian Navy are Imposters.

    “To this end, the Nigerian Navy wishes to state categorically that the said Prince Aderemi is not a naval rating as alleged.

    “Also the Olugboyega Olubiyi Ayokunle is not a Nigerian Navy officer. The naval uniform insignia worn by the suspect is fake as such not that of the Nigerian Navy.

    “Therefore he cannot be serving in the Western Naval Command of the Niigerian Navy as alleged in the news report.

    “Consequently, the said “Captain O.A Olugboyega is a wanted person by the Nigerian Navy for offences ranging from impersonation and illegal possession of fire arms as shown in the attached pictures.

    “The general public is advised to henceforth desist from dealing with the imposters who claim to be in the Service of the Nigerian Navy, as the Service will not be responsible for their fraudulent activities.

    “When and wherever sighted, they should be apprehended and handed over to the nearest Naval or military formation for prompt action.”

  • Navy intercepts pipeline vandals, recovers stolen petrol

    Navy intercepts pipeline vandals, recovers stolen petrol

    The Nigerian Navy on Friday said it had impounded a wooden boat laden with 27 jerry cans of stolen petrol from suspected pipeline vandals at the Atlas Cove area of Lagos.

    The authorities said that the seizure was made on Thursday night after the vandals abandoned the boat on sighting a naval team and fled into the bush to evade arrest.

    Commodore Abraham Adaji, Commander of NNS BEECROFT, which carried out the operation, told journalists that the navy was determined to rid the country’s waterways of oil thieves and vandals.

    ”We are also in partnership with local authorities that are closest to where these assets are and who are the first to know if anything is going on,” he said.

    Adaji said that the navy was “fully equipped and ready to fight to an end, pipeline vandalism and oil theft’’, adding that the Chief of Naval Staff had zero tolerance for maritime offences.

    He warned perpetrators of illegal acts to seek legitimate means of livelihood.

     

  • Nigerian navy averts ship’s hijack, destroys illegal refineries

    Nigerian navy averts ship’s hijack, destroys illegal refineries

    The Nigerian Navy has intensifies its operations against the unlawful activities of oil and pipeline vandal in the Niger Delta area of the country, as the Illegal crude oil thieves and vandals suffered heavy loss  recently.

     

    The Nigerian Naval patrol team carried out raids at Ugborodo Itsekiri area in Warri South West LGA Delta State where an illegal refinery with large storage pits containing liquid suspected to be crude oil was discovered. Also discovered in the site was a large Cotonou boat laden with 37 drums of suspected illegally refined AGO. The refinery facilities were destroyed as the owners fled the scenes before the arrival of the Nigerian Navy team.

     

    Also, raids conducted in the general areas of Ogbonga, Egbelema and adjoining creeks dealt a devastating blow on the activities of the illegal crude oil thieves. Patrol team of the Nigerian Navy in that raid discovered 2 co-located active illegal refineries in Ogbonga creek. Further search led to the discovery and destruction of 3 suspected crude oil storage tanks and 4 suspected AGO storage tanks. In the Egbelema axis, an active illegal refinery was discovered with 2 storage tanks. The refinery site and other facilities used for the illicit business were destroyed as the operators of the facilities fled the site in an apparent effort to evade arrest and prosecution.

     

    Based on a tip off, the Naval patrol teams conducted a raid at better land community. The team discovered an illegal refinery site with 8 storage tanks. Each of the 4 tanks contained approximately 20,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil while the other 4 tanks contained about 10,000 litres of suspected illegally refined AGO each. Other items discovered and destroyed by the naval patrol team at the site include 2 Cotonou boats laden with large quantities of suspected crude oil, 3 fibre speed boats as well as one electric power generator. However, the operators of the illegal refinery deserted the site before the arrival of the naval patrol team.

     

    In a related development, the Nigerian Navy Ship OKPABANA successfully averted a hijack attack on MT NORDIC FREEDOM around Agbami oil field, off all caps Brass. The BAHAMAS flagged vessel alerted the Naval ship which was on routine patrol of the general area. On getting the alert, NNS OKPABANA ensured MT NORDIC FREEDOM was protected from the sea pirates who attempted to hijack the vessel.

     

    However,, the Nigerian Navy wishes assured all law abiding sea farers not to entertain any fear, they were enjoined to promptly alert the Nigerian Navy patrol teams of any suspicious activities around them.

  • Navy goes tough on kidnappers, vandals in Niger Delta

    The Nigerian Navy has launched 25 gunboats to tackle the menace of kidnapping and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.

    The Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral, Ibok Ekwe Abas, said he inaugurated the gunboats in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to support naval operations against kidnapping and other criminalities in the maritime environment.

    Abas, who spoke at the Headquarters of the Central Naval Command (CNC), Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Wednesday said active community participation was required to stamp out kidnapping and pipeline vandalism.

    Abas spoke shortly after meeting with the senior officials and commanders of the CNC behind closed doors.

    He said since kidnappers operate on land, live among people and return to the creeks with their victims, members of the public should furnish security agencies with information about such individuals.

    He said: “What we expect from the members of the public is to cooperate with the security services not just the Navy alone by providing information because these guys who kidnap hideaway our brothers and sisters and they stay with us.

    “While the Navy is not expected to be on these points at all the time, we expect that we have the cooperation from the members of the public. We have just launched 25 gunboats which will all go to support navy operations and as time goes on more boats are going to be inducted into the various creeks and operations. “

     

  • Navy arrests pirates, recover oil tanker

    Nigerian Navy operatives have arrested suspected pirates who hijacked an oil tanker off the Coast of Cote D’Ivoire.

    The pirates, who were arrested off the Coast of Sao Tome on Saturday after a fierce gun battle with naval forces that left a suspect dead, hijacked a Saudi Arabian tanker, MT MAXIMUS, chartered by a South Korean company.

    The Nation gathered that the vessel, which was renamed MT ELVIS-5 by the hijackers to conceal it, was loaded with 4700 metric tons of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).

    However, efforts by the Navy to parade the suspects on Monday were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.

    Our correspondent learnt that an American vessel which witnessed the hijack chased the ship until it turned southwest towards Togo.

    Unable to continue the chase of the vessel which has left its route completely, the American ship reportedly radioed Togolese Navy to monitor the ship’s movement.

    Togolese Navy, it was learnt notified the Nigerian Navy, which deployed three naval ships, NNS OKPABANA, NNS CENTENARY and NNS SAGBAMA.

    While OKPABANA and SAGBAMA were deployed from Lagos, CENTENARY went through the nation’s central waters, thereby smoking the hijackers at a corner on international waters, off Sao Tome.

     

  • Navy denies killing MASSOB members

    Navy denies killing MASSOB members

    The Central Naval Command (CNC) of the Nigerian Navy yesterday denied the allegation that its operatives killed members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in Anambra State.

    The CNC with headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has Anambra, Kogi, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states as its Areas of Responsibility (AoR).

    The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), CNC, Rear Admiral Stanley Ogoigbe, told reporters at the command’s headquarters in Yenagoa, that the alleged killing was false.

    Ogoigbe spoke against the background of conflicting reports that a clash between members of a pro-Biafra group, Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and Navy personnel in Onitsha, Anambra State, left some members of the group dead.

    Some reports claimed that 10 persons were shot dead during the said clash while other sources said between three and five persons were murdered.

    But the FOC said naval operatives only shot into the air to scare a large number of MASSOB members on a protest march towards the Onitsha head bridge.

    He said the protesting youths already overran the police officials on duty at the bridge when the naval personnel shot into the air to disperse them. He said nobody was   injure, let alone, killed in the incident.

    According to Ogoigbe: “No such act was ever committed. The MASOB group was on a protest march. They overran the policemen that were on duty and were coming towards the Navy personnel.

    “As they approached, the Navy fired warning shots into the air to scare them away and they all dashed away. There was never any body that died in the process.

    “To our surprise, MASSOB started claiming that Navy has killed two of their men. I don’t know what they wish to achieve with this propaganda, fabricating stories against the Navy.

    He added: “We just want all well meaning Nigerians to know that no MASSOB member was killed in that area of Anambra State where the Navy was keeping peace and carrying out their legitimate duties.

    “It was not only Navy that was there, the police and other security agencies were also there.

    “And they all confirmed that nobody was killed. I don’t know where MASSOB manufactured their story.”

    Corroborating the FOC’s position, Commanding Officer, Naval Outpost, Onitsha where the incident happened, Navy Capt. Dika Kwabe, said there was no proof in the claim by MASSOB that its members were killed.

    Kwabe said the Commissioner of Police in charge of Anambra State Police Command had addressed the press to debunk the report.

    He also called on the Ohaneze Ndigbo, which he described as a respectful body, to detach itself from being used by baseless rumours being peddled by the MASSOB group to create disaffection between security men and the people.

  • Community protest alleged military harassment

    Leaders of Odimodi Community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, have protested against alleged threat to the peace and security of the community and harassment of its 90 year old monarch by the leadership of the Nigeria Navy’s NNS Delta.

    They accused the security agency of partisanship, meddling in the community’s internal affair and threatening the peace and security of the oil-producing Ijaw community.

    The community’s displeasure was contained in a letter to the Commanding Officer, NNS Delta, Warri, Commodore Aliyu Sule, following the CO’s invitation to the nonagenarian clan head, Chief Yangaboy Angalabiri.

    The letter, authored by Larry Ovwromoh & Associate, followed an invitation letter from the CO, threatening to take “action” against the monarch and leadership of the community, unless the monarch makes a long trip from Odimodi to appear before him in Warri and also allow a sacked leadership of the clan to remain in place.

    Attempts to get the Navy’s reaction were abortive as the Base IO, Lt Tope Ogunaike, was unavailable. Commodore Sule was yet to return our reporter’s calls or respond to text message sent to his mobile phone since Friday.