The end may not yet be in sight concerning the unfolding drama on the whereabouts of a foreign toxic waste vessel, MV Grande America. It was allegedly detained recently at the Ports and Terminal Multi-services Limited (PTML) section of the Tin Can Island Port Complex, Lagos. The new twist in the tale, however, is the claim by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) that the ship has escaped.
Faulting this claim are other Federal Government agencies at the port: the Nigerian Customs Service (NSC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Both maintain that only a court of competent jurisdiction can order the detention of a vessel, and not NESREA. Stressing this line of argument further, the PTML's spokesperson, Chris Ogbonna, asserted that there was no record of any ship that escaped from detention at the Tin Can Port. As far as he was aware, he said, the Customs Service has no statutory instrument for detaining any vessel.
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