The new Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy
(NN), Forward Operating Base (FOB), Ibaka, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa
Ibom State, Captain Peter Yilme, on Thursday expressed the determination of the navy to
end smuggling on Nigerian waterways, warning smugglers to desist from the
illegal activity forthwith.
The position of the Commanding Officer came as one
of the suspects arrested for smuggling of contraband rice into the country said
he was not aware that bringing the product into the country was against the
law.
Yilme said within two days of his resumption in
office, the navy has arrested 12 suspects, seized 50 drums of illegal diesel
and 486 bags of smuggled rice.
The commanding officer, who stated this in Ibaka when
he handed over of the items to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), warned further that if the smugglers
don't desist from such act, the navy would persist with their arrests.
Represented
by Lieutenant Commander Kareem Yusuf, Base Operations Officer, FOB, Yilme
hinted that the arrests were made in three different operations involving five
suspects each with 209 and 277 bags of 50kg rice respectively, and two suspects
with 50 drums of illegal diesel.
“On behalf
of the flag officer commanding of the Eastern Naval Command, I hand over these 486
bags of smuggled rice and 10 suspects to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). I
also hand over two suspects and 50 drums of diesel to the Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps,” he said.
While receiving the 10 suspects and 486 bags of
rice from the navy, Deputy Superintendent of NCS, Alabi, Adedokun, lauded the navy
for the cooperation existing between them.
Divisional Officer of the Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in charge of Mbo LGA, James Essien, who stood in for the Corps, received the 50
drums of diesel and two suspects from the navy, and praised them for their
efforts in combating smuggling in the area.
“On behalf
of the state Commandant of the NSCDC,
Akwa Ibom State Command, I Commandant Adeyinka Fasiu hereby take over the two
suspects and 50 drums of 300 litres of diesel from the Nigerian Navy.
“We commend
the navy for collaborating with us and making sure that the illegality in the
waterways is checkmated. We will do all the necessary things to make sure that
the culprits are brought to book,” he declared.
One of the
suspects, Bright Okon, a fisherman who had lived in Bakassi for about 20 years,
but is from Udung Uko LGA of Akwa Ibom State, said he was only a passenger on
the boat when the boat was arrested by the Nigerian Navy.
He stated that he was not involved in the smuggling
but was on his way to Oron to visit his wife and new born baby.
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