Nigerian Navy stops 8 Nigerian stowaways in Lagos

Nigerian Navy stops 8 Nigerian stowaways in Lagos

Nigerian Navy patrol team stops eight stowaways from sneaking out of the country

Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun

A patrol team of Nigerian Navy has stopped eight stowaways from sneaking out of the country onboard a container vessel Natal which was heading to Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast.

The eight stowaways were arrested last Friday morning by the patrol team of Nigerian Navy Ship BEECROFT acting on reliable intelligence.

Base Information Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship BEECROFT Sub-Lieutenant HA Collins in a statement said the stwaways hid themselves inside the rudder compartment of the vessel in their bid to illegally leave the country onboard the vessel.

He added that the timely intervention of the patrol team prevented them from being exposed to a life-threatening situation in such a confined compartment for the long voyage and other security threats associated with unauthorized access to such facilities.

“At approximately 0840 hours on Friday 3rd November 2023 the patrol team, acting on reliable intelligence boarded the vessel at Lagos Anchorage and apprehended eight stowaways attempting to illegally exit the country through the vessel,” a statement from the Base Information Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship BEECROFT Sub-Lieutenant HA Collins read.

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According to him, the stowaways “had concealed themselves inside the rudder compartment of the vessel” but the “timely intervention of the patrol team prevented the individuals from being exposed to a life-threatening situation in such a confined compartment for the long voyage as well as other security threats associated with unauthorized access to such facilities”.

Navy listed the stowaways as Jerry Benjamin, 22 years old; Ben Tony, 19 years old; Victory Ekemele; 16 years old and Ike Destiny, 17 years old, all from Delta State.

The others are Ebuka Solomon, 25 years old, and Christian Eze, 26 years old both from Enugu State.

“James Vincent, 25 years old from Edo State, and David Abamiyo, 27 years old, from Ondo State,” it noted.

“In a seamless transition, the stowaways were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in accordance with the established protocols for further necessary action.”