The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Stowaways

  • Navy, Immigration arrest 10 ‘stowaways’

    Nine Nigerians and a Niger Republic national trying to enter Europe illegally have been arrested by security operatives in Lagos.

    The suspects were apprehended inside two Merchant Vessels- MV MSC PAOLA and MV MAERSK CHANNIA – by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Navy (NN) respectively.

    It was gathered that five of the suspects, were apprehended by naval personnel during routine patrol on Monday, while others were caught by NIS officers on Sunday by the Fairway Buoy.

    The suspects, it was learnt, got into the vessels with the help of local fishermen, not knowing that foreign ships only sailed within West African waters.

    Parading the suspects on Wednesday, NIS Lagos Seaport and Marine Comptroller, Modupe Anyalechi, said those arrested on Sunday were discovered inside a rudder truck of MV MSC PAOLA.

    Anyalechi listed the suspects as Orire Popoola, Kelvin Wessey, Erukudami Moses, Odiyeye Abiye, Agba Victor, Odogwu Michael, Kelly Onikan, Pope Ekele, Asumah Ukpere and Wessem Nasuru.

    She said: “Our efforts have made it almost impossible for stowaways to access vessels from the quayside; hence, they now resort to using canoes with the assistance of fishermen, to get into vessels through the propellers when the vessels are gradually sailing to the high sea along the channel.

    “This was confirmed in the confession of the stowaways. Their reason for this act, as they claimed, was in search of greener pastures in Europe and the western world. Unknown to them, some of these vessels are coastal ships, whose activities are limited to West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.”

    One of the suspects, Odogun, an artiste, said he had been performing at different shows without making headway in life, adding that he thought the risk would change his destiny for the better.

    He said: “I do not hate my country and I am not trying to run away from Nigeria. I just needed a place where I can find help. I am an artiste and I have gone for many shows without making it. I am not aware of the risk I took; but I believed whatever the risk involved, God would save me and I would not die. And thankfully, I did not die even when I was apprehended by my own government. My mother died two months ago and my father is crippled. I am the first child of my father and my only brother is in the village.”

    Popoola, 28, admitted his boarded the vessel in search of better life, adding that he went in as individual.

    The suspect said he had thought the vessel was Europe bound, adding that he was prepared to risk it all to go overseas.

    He said: “I will take any risk to find my way out of Nigeria. I have no job. I am doing nothing. I believe if I can follow a ship to Europe, I can be anything I want to be. I thought the ship was going to Holland or anywhere in Europe where I could make it.”

    Wessey, 24, who claimed to be a Lagos State indigene, said he wanted to leave the country to play for a football club in Europe.

    He said: “I have been suffering for many years to be somebody in life, but no way. I am a footballer; but I don’t have connection. I want to play for big clubs in Europe. I know Nigeria has academies here, but I don’t have any connection. I felt if taking this risk will make me achieve in life, then so be it. I know I could have died while doing this. But I did it on purpose.

    “I lost my mother in October 2017. I have no relative or helper. I cannot steal or rob or carry gun, which I believe will be adding hardship to my life. I will rather take the risk of going abroad to be somebody in life. Now that I have been arrested, only God knows what will happen to me.”

    Opere said he had been frustrated by joblessness, adding that his attempt at joining the Immigration Service had been futile due to lack of funds.

    He said: “I thought the ship was going to the western world. The life I am living in Nigeria is meaningless. I have looked for jobs in many companies in Lagos without getting any. When I got the recruitment form to join Immigration, I could not process it because I didn’t have money and my parents are dead. This is the reason I wanted to try my best to get there. I know that if I get there, I will find a better life for myself than the one I am living here.”

  • NIMASA, Navy arrest 16 stowaways on U.S.-bound vessel

    Search and Rescue personnel of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy have apprehended 16 stowaways on a U.S.-bound vessel, “MV Colombia River’’.

    According to the Head, Corporate Communications Team of NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, the arrest was carried out on Friday Nov. 4, 2016, at the Lagos Fairway Bouy.

    She said the arrest was sequel to a distress signal sent to the Regional Search and Rescue Coordination Centre based in NIMASA,

    Tumaka said the centre, in turn, alerted the Nigerian Navy.

    “The Navy immediately sent its vessel `NNS Karaduwa’ to the location of `MV Colombia River’ where 16 stowaways were apprehended and one of them sustained an injury on the shoulder while attempting to escape arrest.

    “The injured stowaway was immediately taken away by the NIMASA Search and Rescue team on its vessel `NIMASA Benue’ to the agency’s Search and Rescue Base Clinic for treatment.

    “The others were taken away by the Navy for profiling and subsequent hand over to the security agencies for further investigation,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes her as saying.

    Tumaka said the crew of the Hong Kong flagged vessel, had originally thought that they were under attack by armed pirates.

    According to her, preliminary investigation showed that the persons on board the vessel were only intruders who hid in the vessel to leave Nigeria in search of greener pastures in the U.S.

    “The stowaways, who included a Liberian national, are in custody and will be handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service for further action.

    “It will be recalled that piracy and related activities have drastically reduced in Nigerian waters as a result of the combined efforts of the Nigerian Navy, NIMASA and other stakeholders with Lagos ac

  • Marine police nab four suspected stowaways

    Operatives of the Marine Police Command have arrested four suspected stowaways who boarded a Malaysia bound cargo ship.

    The suspects were arrested following intelligence information availed the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Maritime Police Command, Muhammed Katsina.

    The suspects -Ahmed Azeez (24), Tunde Yagba (33), Ajose Kehinde (33) and Sunday Adewale (25) were tracked by the intelligence group of the Amphibious Ambush Squad (AAS) led by the officer-in-charge of Marine Command, Ben Ogungbure, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

    Parading three of the suspects before journalists on Tuesday, Katsina said Adewale was in the hospital receiving treatment for ulcer

    He said the suspects were tracked 23 hours after they had departed, adding that upon interrogation, the command discovered they have travelled to various countries illegally but were deported.

    He described the arrest as positive fallout of the Basic Marine Operation Course (BMOC) undertaken by 39 policemen at the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Quorra.

    Katsina said: “Upon my assumption of office as AIG Maritime, I made a pledge to empower a wide range of security architecture to cover our maritime environment, the waterways and littoral communities.

    “Now, we are gradually dominating the maritime environment through our network of intelligence, which is very active.

    “In this matter, it’s a case of self human trafficking and stowaway of four young Nigerians who conspired with a criminal motive to travel out of the country without proper documentation.

    “The suspects, all indigenes of Snake Island Village behind Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, conspired with an intent to commit felony. They stole a canoe under the cover of darkness and paddled to a Malaysian-bound cargo ship MV Maersk Casablanca.

    “The vessel was berthed at Tin Can Island Port and trespassed into the vessel. They dived into the water and sneaked through the propeller into the manhole, where they hid themselves in a small compartment.

    “It happened that 23 hours after the ship had sailed out, my intelligence group from the Amphibious Ambush Squad (AAS) alerted me of the presence of some strange elements in the vessel.

    “We quickly alerted our operatives at Onne Port, in collaboration with the men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) who played a commendable role and they were found and arrested.”

     

  • Navy nab three suspected stowaways in Lagos

    Navy nab three suspected stowaways in Lagos

    Three Nigerians who boarded a Europe bound Merchant Vessel have been arrested by operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT.

    The suspects, Okechukwu Obi, 17; Joseph Tunji, 29, and Ismaila Olaniyi, 28, who were caught onboard MT TORM MARINS were Thursday handed over to the police for prosecution.

    They were said to have boarded the vessel through the rudder trunk and accessed manhole while the ship berthed at the National Oil Jetty (NOJ), Apapa, to discharge petroleum product.

    Handing over the suspects to the police, Commander, NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Abraham Adaji said that investigation revealed that the suspects illegally boarded the vessel, with intent to travel abroad.

    He said they were discovered by the ship company while the merchant vessel was carrying out routine maintenance.

    Adaji who decried the spate of Nigerians travelling abroad illegally, noted that the suspects might have been thrown overboard if the vessel had left Nigerian waters.

    He warned Nigerians to desist from the act, noting that it was the third time Obi has been arrested for the same offence.

    Adaji said: “This would be the third time Okechukwo Obi would be arrested by naval operatives from BEECROFT. He was arrested in December but because the ship he illegally boarded had concluded her transaction in Nigeria and was about leaving, there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute him and so, he was warned and released.

    “Surprisingly, two weeks after that incident he was arrested again, during our investigation, it was discovered that this would be the third time he has been arrested while trying to travel onboard a ship illegally.

    “We are appealing to the Police to diligently prosecute the suspects as their actions show that they would do all within their means to board another ship illegally.

    “They may not be so lucky next time  as the ship’s crew might throw them overboard for fishes to eat while at sea,” he said.

    But the suspects seemed undeterred in their quest to travel as they told The Nation that they must leave Nigeria.

    Obi who was paraded last year by the Navy and handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) alongside seven others said he would rather die trying than continue to suffer in Nigeria.

    “If God says I should die, then I die. All those people that were arrested with me last year have all travelled. All of them are in Brazil and they are always calling me.

    “I must make it because I am tired of this life. Anytime you go out to look for job, they will ask you to go and bring surety. Where will I get surety? I only have my grandmother who is in the village in Imo State.

    “I went to learn how to repair generator and I was told to bring surety. I don’t have a house. I sleep inside bus where I work as conductor and get N500 or N700 daily. How will I survive?

    “I have made up my mind that I must go to Brazil like my firends. We bought two bags of pure water, gala and garri that was supposes to last us 20 days on the journey. But we have finished them here. I will keep trying until I succeed,” he said.

    Similarly, Olaniyi who claimed his father was a retired soldier said he was fade up with the hardship on Nigeria, adding that police usually clamped down on them because they have nothing doing.

    “I used to work as a labourer at Ogombo in Ajah, but now, there is no job. I am from Ondo state. I am a street boy, but I am not a criminal. And it is because I do not want to become a criminal that I want to go out there and hustle,” he said.

  • Navy rescues 12 stowaways onboard Spain-bound vessel

    Nigerian Navy personnel have rescued 12 men including a Ghanaian, who stowed away in a Spain bound chemical laden vessel, MV African Osprey.

    The suspects, who were said to have been on board the vessel for three days, were rescued after they banged the door to their hiding place for fear of death by suffocation.

    Boniface Douglass (Ghanaian); Mustapha Ayinla, Bernard Amadi, Azinabor Gideon, Isaac Delight, Daniel Timothy, Justice Agburum, Anthony Oladipupo, Emma Okon, Idowu Adeyemi, Philip Israel and Holly Osatwie all Nigerians, were rescued by personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT at the Lagos anchorage after the chemical vessel crew sent a signal to the navy.

    They were said to have gone onboard the vessel for a contracted job for which they were paid, but rather than leaving, the suspects decided to stowaway.

    Handing over the suspects to Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Admiral Sanmi Alade, said their mission was to illegally exit the country through the ship.

    “Having established a prima facie case against the suspects, they are being handed over to the NIS for further investigation and possible prosecution.

    “It is important you find something to do here because Nigeria is a land of plenty. You can do a lot in this country. It is not compulsory you work in a company, you can even be self employed. You went to do a job onboard and you were paid but you decided to stowaway.

    “The NN reiterates its drive to make our waterways safe for legitimate businesses to thrive. However, we appeal to ship owners and all sea farers to ensure that thorough security checks are conducted onboard prior to departure from harbour,” said Alade.

    Also speaking, the Commanding Officer, NNS Beecroft, Commodore Ovenseri Uwadiae said the rescue operation was carried out based on information from the ship that suspected stowaways were onboard.

    He said: “The rescue team boarded the ship and 12 stowaways were found onboard the ship. They are composed of 11 Nigerians and one Ghanaian. We carried out preliminary investigations and they confessed that they actually boarded the ship to possible destinations in Europe.

    “Their intention was to seek for greener pastures abroad. Based on that confession and extant regulations that issues of this nature, we handed them over to the NIS for a follow up.

    “If there is any young man that wants to travel abroad for greener pastures, he should prepare himself properly and get the requisite travel documents to whatever country of their choice because the streets of Europe are not paved with gold. The immigration laws there are becoming harder and it is very difficult for stowaways to penetrate.”