The Nigerian Navy on Tuesday paraded
four suspected sea robbers who had allegedly hijacked a barge (huge
boat) MV Crow, on August 14, 2013 at Escravos River located on the Gulf
of Guinea.
The PUNCH had reported that the men of the Nigerian Navy killed some sea robbers during a 30-minute gun duel on August 16. Read more
The Commander, NNS Beecroft, Commodore
Chris Ezekobe, said while addressing journalists at the Defence Jetty in
Lagos that shortly after the hijack, the navy was alerted by the
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency
He said, “We were alerted by NIMASA’s
Regional and Maritime Awareness Centre and we pursued the vessel to
Aiyetoro in Ondo State. When we circled her, there was no sign of life
on board. We called and radioed several times but there was no response.
Of course, our suspicion was aroused and then we fired shots into the
air. Once they heard the shots, the sea robbers came out and threw their
weapons into the water.”
Ezekobe said in a bid to secure the
nation’s waters, the navy recently acquired four Shaldag and four Ocean
boats and three mantra class boats to patrol the waterways.
He said, “If the acquisition of more
vessels are maintained, our waters would be safer. The International
Maritime Bureau has listed our country as the second next to Somalia and
we are working assiduously to change that perception.
“But it is pertinent to state that our
challenge in Nigeria is sea robbery as opposed to piracy which is
obtained in Somalia. We have over 6,000 creeks between Lagos and Calabar
and it is easier for the sea robbers to attack and slip back to the
creeks.”
by Eniola Akinkuotu
Culled from Punch newspaper
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