...Surrender vessel, four Bernelli MI-1 rifles,
1,000 ammunition
The Nigerian Navy (NN) on Thursday handed over nine
suspected pirates, comprising three Greeks, an American and five Nigerians to
the Interpol unit of the Nigeria Police for allegedly possessing firearms and
suspected crude oil within the Nigerian maritime domain.
The Officer in Tactical Command (OTC), Commodore
Dickson Olisemenogor, handed over the suspects at the Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS)
BEECROFT parade ground in Apapa, Lagos.
The suspects and their vessel, Sea Angel 3, were
arrested within the western waters during a joint operation codenamed Junction
Rain, which was undertaken by the NN and the United States Navy.
The vessel was arrested for illegal possession of
firearms and suspected crude oil theft by NNS CENTENARY.
The Greeks were identified as Angelopolous
Spyridon, 54; Kappis Christos, 57, and Petropoulos Stylianos, 34, while the
American was identified as Zanski Michael-Anderson, 50.
Also recovered were four Bernelli MI-1 rifles, over
1,000 ammunition and other military gadgets.
Meanwhile, a discharge document was also recovered
onboard the boat having the name, signature and details of Michael-Anderson but
with another photograph.
Addressing journalists at the handing over
ceremony, the OTC said the objective of the operation was to carry out maritime
law enforcement operations at sea.
According to him, “Before now, we go out there to
make arrest and we hand them over to relevant agencies, but the activities of
these criminals have continued unabated.
“So this time, we made a detailed search and
interrogation of ships at sea. Within the period of the operation, we
interrogated over 100 ships; we boarded over 40 of them, and in the process of
boarding these vessels, one was suspected to be carrying out illegal activities
on our waters.
“When we interrogated the captain and crew members
of the ship, they made us believe that there were only five Nigerians on board.
The boat was painted in navy colour which aroused our suspicions more.
“They did not switch on their electronic gadget at
sea, which would indicate their position as stipulated by the International
Maritime Organisation, so this attracted our attention.
“We boarded the ship and discovered that there were
more than five persons on board. There were five Nigerians, three Greeks and an
American.
“Further search on the boat reviewed that they had
four MI riffles that can be used to do anything at sea, and over 1,000 rounds
of ammunition with them and various military kits.
“We don’t know what they were doing on our waters. We
are handing over the suspects, exhibits and the boats to the Nigerian Police.
They will further investigation and prosecute the suspects.”
After receiving the suspects, vessel and weapons,
Interpol Lagos boss, Tunji Akingbola, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said
investigation would commence immediately.
Also on ground were personnel from the Nigerian
Immigration Service (NIS), whose duty was to verify the immigration status of
the four foreigners.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian crew alleged that they were
merely hired to provide necessities to their vessel, and as such, had no idea
that the foreigners had illegal weapons.
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