Kingsley Omonobi
8 May 2004
Warri — Nigerian Naval Task Force of NNS Delta, Warri, has intercepted and arrested eight smugglers comprising Nigerian and Togolese nationals with smuggled goods valued at over N10 million.
The smuggled goods, suspected to be imported fabrics and textile materials which were contained in a giant size wooden boat, were handed over to the Nigerian Customs Service in Warri yesterday by Navy Captain Jacob Ajani, the commanding officer, NNS Delta.
Speaking shortly before the hand over ceremony, Captain Ajani disclosed that the Naval Task Force intercepted the boat at the stretch of sea in the Escravos area between Ogheye and the Okan oil fields in Warri North Local Government Areas.
His words, "On the 5th, Wednesday, the Naval Task Force around Escravos got intelligence reports that smugglers were moving some consignments between Ogheye and Okan areas. The Task Force men then mobilized and gave hot pursuits. On approaching, they saw the boat with eight passengers."
"The eight persons were later discovered to be both Nigerian and Togolese nationals. They were then apprehended, but because it was late, the Task Force men secured them. By Thursday, they were brought to the base".
"As you are aware, the Nigerian Navy has its statutory function of not only defending the territorial integrity of the nation by sea, but also assisting the customs where necessary in its maritime law enforcement.
The commanding officer added that "when the arrest was reported to higher authorities in Abuja, he was directed to hand over immediately the seized boat , the contraband and the eight suspects to the Nigeria customs in Warri, which is what he had done.
Captain Ajani said further that the Navy will continue to discharge any responsibility assigned to it including that of internal security assistance to either the police or customs.
Commenting on whether the customs could be trusted to follow up from where the Navy stopped by going after the real owners, the commanding officer said, " I have no reason to doubt that customs will not do a good job. Ours is to arrest and hand over and we have done just that".
Receiving the goods on behalf of the customs, Assistant comptroller Hassan Bello who is deputy controller enforcement in Warri, thanked the Navy for the assistance saying it showed inter service cooperation.
According to him, "our statutory role is to combat smuggling and collect revenue for the federal government. But it (customs) cannot do all these alone by itself. That is why the Navy has to come in and assist us. "
"Though we have marine unit but we don't have the necessary equipment to carry out our assigned responsibilities. That is why we really appreciate what the Navy is doing and we salute the espirit-de-corps behind it, "the customs officer said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2004 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
