Eighteen months after it was arrested for allegedly carrying one million litres of diesel without licence, a vessel, MT Takoradi, was yesterday handed over to its owner by the Nigerian Navy.
The ship, which was arrested on January 26, 2012, had since been docked at CMS, Lagos Island, with naval personnel keeping watch.
Handing over the vessel to the owner, Operations Officer, NN Beecroft, Commander Sabo Lengaya, said the Navy was mandated by the court to release the ship to its owners.
The navy sometime last year, handed over the personnel as well as the vessel’s content to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for investigation and prosecution.
On October 4, 2012, the EFCC charged the ship captain, Musa Mohammed and four of its crew members, before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on a four-count charge of alleged illegal dealings in petroleum products.
The other accused, Otuagoma Freeborn, James Onubi, Hassan Adekunle, Gabriel Edet Inyang and Patrick Chinedu alongside Mohammed, were arraigned before Justice Okechukwu Okeke and were initially remanded in prison after pleading not guilty to the charge.
They were unable to give a reasonable explanation about the source of the diesel and were without any clearance from naval authorities in charge of such activity.
It was learnt that the naval personnel, upon suspicion that the vessel might have been involved in acts of illegal bunkering and economic sabotage, arrested and detained the vessel and crew on board.
Lengaya said: “We are here to officially hand over the vessel, MT Takoradi to its owner, Mr. Oladapo Ogunremi.
“The vessel was arrested in 2012 after it was suspected of illegally carrying petroleum products and was later handed over to the EFCC for investigation and prosecution.
“But, following a directive from the court that the vessel be released to its owners, we are here to obey that order and withdraw our men that have kept watch over the ship since its arrest.
“They have passed through the court procedure and for the court to ask us to release the vessel, we believe they have either been exonerated or that the court, in line with the charges against them, has deemed it fit for the vessel to be handed over to the owner.”
In his response, Ogunremi said he was happy the vessel was being returned to them pending the determination of the case.
He said his company has lost so much revenue in the 18 months the ship was impounded.
Ogunremi, who disclosed that the product belonged to Grand Marine Oil and Gas Company, said the ship was licensed to carry petroleum products.
He added that the company had sought approval from the navy to carry the cargo, but the approval was not released before the diesel was eventually carried.
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