A vessel, MT Preye 1 and her crew of eleven suspected oil thieves arrested by officers of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base, Bonny, Rivers State, were today, February 18, 2020 handed over to the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Commanding Officer of the FOB, Commodore K. O Oguntuga, disclosed that the vessel, suspected to be carrying unspecified quantity of stolen crude oil and her crew were arrested at about 1815 hours on January 10, 2020.
The crew include Tunji Ishola, Friday Ikuonu, James Friday, Jerry Amarh, Ezekiel Udoh and Austin Dani. Others are Chigozie Jonathan, Ajala Ahmed, Emmanuel Okeoghene, Ojakovo Anthony and Onaimor Nisdom.
In a related development, the Nigerian Navy Ship Delta, NNS Delta, on Monday, February 17, 2020 handed over two Motor Tankers, Neli and Madam Esther, a Barge and a Wooden Tugboat allegedly used for illegal oil bunkering to the EFCC Benin Zonal Office for further investigation.
Captain AV Kujoh who represented NNS Delta at the handing over in Warri stated that the motor tankers, were arrested by Forward Operating Base Escravos and Nigerian Navy Ship Bomadi for allegedly being used for illegal oil bunkering and theft.
The Barge and the Tugboat were arrested around Ogbodo Creek in Warri South local government area. At the time of arrest, the tankers and barge were found to be with unspecified quantity of suspected illegally refined AGO, black oil and contaminated crude oil.
