Emma Amaize
6 January 2009
THE six Ghanaians and a Nigerian, arrested, 29 December, 2008, by the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta for crude oil robbery confessed, yesterday, that they were hijacked by armed oil thieves, who used their ship, SANDRA VALLETA, LAGOS to illegally lift 4,000 metric tonnes of crude oil (23,000 barrels) at gunpoint at the Chanomi Creek in Delta State.
Three of the suspects: two Ghanians and a Nigerian (names withheld), who were among the seven suspected bunkerers paraded before newsmen at the Effrun Barracks of the JTF by the coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) of the security outfit, Colonel Rabe Abubakar revaled this in a chat with newsmen.
They were arrested at about 3.15 am on December 29 with the ocean-going vessel, which also used another name, MT Hope as a disguise, laden with the crude oil content.
The first Ghanain suspect who spoke to newsmen said their ship came into the country for repairs and the December visit was their first time in Nigeria. According to him, one Captain Ben, believed to be a Nigerian crude oil baron, is the owner of the ship and he chartered them from Ghana to bring the ship to Nigeria for repairs and take it back.
He said the said Captain Ben sent a pilot to direct them on the route and that when they got to Nigeria, the crew called Captain Ben, who asked them to navigate to Escravos in Delta State.
It appeared he was withholding information, as he felt inhibited speaking on what happened thereafter, but, one of his co-suspects was more open.
He said Captain Ben chartered the ship from Ghana and when they got to Nigeria, they were taken by the pilot to a place called Benneth Island. He said all of a sudden, however, they were surrounded by gunmen who besieged them with so many speedboats and barges, and told them bluntly that they were being hijacked and they should cooperate in their own interest.
The Ghanaian said they initially resisted the take-over of their ship by the gunmen, but, when it dawned on them that their lives were at stake if they posed any further obstacle to the mission of the invaders, the crew simmered down.
He said as soon as the gunmen broke their resistance, they took them to an illegal crude oil lifting depot, where different hoses and pumps emerged from different directions and they were pumping crude oil into the vessel. According to him, the unlawful loading was done without care about the capacity of the vessel.
In his words, "The vessel was overloaded and I had no doubt that something would have happened if the vessel were to sail on the waters away from the bunkering point with all those crude oil inside." He confessed that the crew was taken unawares by the oil thieves who were well armed and every indication about them was that they were out for business and not joke.
The Nigerian member of the syndicate said he is from Udu Local Government Area of Delta State and identified Captain Ben as the owner of the ship.
Asked who Captain Ben is, he said, "I do not know him very well, but, I know that he is a Yoruba person."
He said he was called on phone by Captain Ben when the ship berthed in Lagos that he wanted him (suspect) to render him assistance, adding, this was how I joined them, not knowing the actual nature of the assistance I was to render.
The suspect described Captain Ben as "a long-time friend," but, when asked for information that could lead to his whereabouts, he said he did not know him well.
In a terse statement shortly after the suspects were captured, the JMCC coordinator, Colonel Abubabakar said, "The Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope has arrested five Ghanaians and a Nigerian collaborator for illegal oil bunkering at the Chanomic Creek, Delta State. "He said the illegal bunkerers who were arrested in a ship tagged SANDRA VALLETA LAGOS, at about 0315 hours, 29 December, 2008, had loaded substances suspected to be crude oil.
His words: "Meanwhile, recovery of the vessel to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), jetty, Warri is in progress. However, details would be made available to the public as soon as preliminary investigation is concluded."
It was obvious from the interaction newsmen had with the suspects that they were "errand boys" for the crude oil baron, identified as Captain Ben, who owns the ship, hired the Ghanaians to bring the ship into the country under the pretence that it was coming for repairs, only to recruit gunmen to take them hostage and use the ship for the original purpose he had in mind -- crude oil bunkering.
Colonel Abubakar told newsmen that the task force would not spare anybody- be he a baron or otherwise, as long as it has useful information that would lead to his or their arrest. He said the Commander of the JTF, Brigadier-General Nanven Rimtip has vowed that the task force would continue to pursue the oil thieves, whom he described as economic saboteurs .
The baron in question, Captain Ben adopted the same old strategy that was implemented by the oil thieves who hijacked a ship, MT Akuada on November 15, which they brought in under the guise of repairs for crude oil bunkering.
The vessel was also given a false name of MT Kua and it was intercepted with 12,000 metric tonnes of crude oil with 14 or so Filipinos on board after the ship was hijacked and taken to Bedfut point in Delta State, where the illegal loading was carried out at gunpoint.
Though, the MT Akuada case was a soured deal between a syndicate of oil thieves and some members of the JTF who were ostensibly settled by the crude oil robbers. The truth is that one or two highly-placed security agents were properly "briefed" on the arrangement and they used their powers to abort the business.
The affected 13 Filipinos have since been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Port-Harcourt for prosecution with no word on their military collaborators. It was the master of the Panamanian Flag vessel, CaptainAlbo Simeon, who reportedly fled to his country after the gunmen that hijacked MT Akuada released him that gave an insight into what really transpired.
He said the ship had already been cleared to load fuel oil from Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) for those that chartered it when the crew members were taken hostage by suspected militants, who diverted them to Benneth Island.
His words, "To our surprise, they (armed crude oil thieves) gained entry into the channel and when accosted by a naval gunboat at Chevron Point, two of the militants (their leader plus another one) came and spoke to the commander in charge of the gunboat. It seemed they knew each other so the gunboat allowed the vessel to proceed.
After that encounter with the gunboat, the militants quickly changed their uniforms and remained in coloured clothes and warned us that we were being hijacked to go and load crude oil but nothing will happen to the crew if we were good boys."
Captain Simeon said, "The following morning, Thursday, November 13, 2008 at about 0900 hrs, three men came onboard, and as I heard, they said to the militants that the JTF commander had approved the operation and that the naval commander wants his money before the operation, otherwise, he would not give the go-ahead.
He had been collecting big monies from other vessels on the other routes and that he wants his money upfront."
He stated that after one of the men spoke on phone with somebody he suspected to be a security personnel, the three men disembarked from the vessel and he was forced to sail to a point where about 70 militants, armed with AK 47 rifles came to join them, adding that the militants forcefully loaded crude oil from their barges, numbering about 21 to his vessel under tight security and that they were escorted outwards by navy boat, A503.
According to him, the navy boat later came and took him, the chief engineer and chief officer to the Naval Base where he was forced to sign a hand-written document, saying that they came to Escravos following the instructions of the operators of the vessel and not from the militants.
The captain said that after signing the statement, they were taken back to the vessel and the militants took him and four crew members away to their camp leaving other members of the crew in the vessel.
On November 15, the military attacked the vessel and the 15 crew members that were onboard were arrested. Coordinator of the JMCC, Colonel Abubakar also showed newsmen the ship used by the suspects in the illegal crude oil business, pointing out that they would be handed over to the EFCC for prosecution.
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