The Nigerian Navy has refutes the claimed hijack of a Palau flagged tanker, MT APECUS, off the coast of Bonny, by suspected pirates.
It was gathered that the vessel was alleged to have been hijacked on 19 April, 2019 with seven crew members comprising five Indian nationals and two Nigerians.
However, the five Indians were later released by the pirates, Nigerian Navy’s investigation indicate that the hijack was not executed by pirates as claimed in the report but masterminded by a criminal syndicate operating the vessel.
The director of Information, Commodore Suleman Dahun in a statement disclosed that the Navy has arrested one Mr Osimili Adah, an agent of the vessel.
He said Mr Adah who confessed to have masterminded the abduction of the crew of the vessel following a disagreement within a syndicate involved in crude oil theft had since been handed over to the NPF for further investigation and prosecution.
The statement added that the Nigerian Navy is making efforts to debrief the released crew with a view to obtaining intelligence for future operations towards the arrest of other collaborators in the saga.
He recalled that NIMASA in a statement earlier alluded to the involvement of MT APECUS in criminality within Nigerian waters.
This he said was based on the fact that the vessel had been conducting trading activities in Nigerian waters since 2014 without valid permits or documentation.
“NIMASA also observed that the vessel has changed name and the flag under which the vessel operated at least 15 times since 1993 and made 4 MMSI changes which all point to her suspected involvement in illegal activities.”
“Furthermore, it was difficult to ascertain the past movement of the vessel as her Automatic Identification System (AIS) was often switched off for weeks, contrary to standard practice.
These developments are considered deliberate acts to avoid detection,”
Commodore Dahun however restated that the Nigerian Navy remains committed to curbing the menace of crude oil theft and other forms of illegalities in Nigeria’s and the larger Gulf of Guinea maritime domain.