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| Suspects |
The Nigerian Navy (NN) yesterday
handed over the nine suspects arrested on board a service boat, SEA ANGEL 3, four firearms, ammunition and other
exhibits recovered to the International Police (INTERPOL).
Three
Greeks, an American and five Nigerians were on Sunday arrested on the boat
during a joint naval operation between Nigerian and United States (US) navies
within the nation’s western waters.
Handing
over the suspects to Deputy Commissioner of Police INTERPOL, Lagos Command,
Tunji Akingbola, the Officer in-charge of Tactical Command (OTC), Commodore
Dickson Olisemenogor, said the captain of the boat had lied during radio
interrogation that there were only five Nigerians on board, only for the
special forces to discover that there were white men as well as MI-1 rifles and
over 1,000 ammunition.
Olisemenogor
said: “Before now, we went out there to make arrest and we handed over to
relevant agencies, but the activities of these criminals have continued
unabated.
“This
time, we made a detailed search and interrogation of ships at sea. When we
interrogated the captain and crew members, they made us believe that there were
only five Nigerians on board.
“The
boat was painted in navy colour, and this aroused our suspicion. They were not
shining their electronic gadget at sea, which will indicate their position, as
stipulated by the International Maritime Organisation. This attracted our
attention.
“We
boarded and discovered that there were more than five persons on board. There
were five Nigerians, three Greeks and an American.
“Further
search on the boat revealed that they had four MI rifles that can do anything
at sea and over 1000 rounds of ammunition with them, as well as various
military kits.
“What
they are doing on our waters, we do not know. We are handing over the suspects,
exhibits and boats to the Nigeria Police.”
DCP
Akingbola, who said he was directed by the acting Inspector-General of Police
(IG), Mohammed Adamu, to take over the suspects and exhibits, added that the
police would begin investigation immediately.
He
said the police would write the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to ascertain
the immigration status of the suspects, adding that findings would be made
public.
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