Four stowaways arrested onboard a ship that was on its way to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by officers of the Nigerian Navy (NN) have confessed attempting to exit the country because of hunger and frustration.

The four young men, Ebi Agrive (22), Lucky Amusu (23), Goodness Edu (28) and Michael Daniel (18), were arrested on November 13, by the NN officers of the ship, NNS BEECROFT, at the Lagos anchorage.

Speaking on behalf of the others, one of the suspects said, "Hunger and frustration forced us to attempt to flee Nigeria."

The Commander of NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, who gave details of the arrest, explained that the tactical team that effected the arrest was dispatched to the vessel following credible information received from the Maritime Domain Awareness Facility, Falcon Eye Alignment.

He said upon arrival, the team noticed movements inside the rudder compartment of the ship and "a search was conducted during which the four stowaways were extracted. The stowaways were found with a bag filled with snacks and another containing sachet water."

He further said that Ebi Agrive hails from Bayelsa State, Lucky Amusu from Lagos State, Goodness Edu from Akwa Ibom State and Micheal Daniel from Ondo State,

He added that, "All the suspects were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in accordance with the established protocols."

Recall that 11 stowaways were apprehended on October 17, 2023, at about 7pm onboard GWANGZHOU HIGHWAY PANAMA which was en route to Ghana.

Eight others were apprehended on November 3, 2023, onboard a container vessel, NATAL, in an attempt to travel out of the country.