CHIEF OF NAVAL STAFF

Illegal bunkering: Navy hands over four suspects to EFCC.

The Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Commodore Oyetunji Fadeyi, has handed over four crew members, a barge and a tug boat with 80,000 litres of diesel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.
The four crew members, who were involved in illegal bunkering, were on Thursday paraded at the NNS Pathfinder, with Fadeyi disclosing that they were arrested in their barge, named IHINOSEN, along with the tug boat named ALK, for the illegal act.
The suspects are: Messrs. Alex Ozoegbe (barge owner), Ogwara Ufuoma (tug boat worker), Madu Damian (tug boat engineer) and Tayo Akinsoye (hired by barge owner).
The commanding officer said: “The arrest was made by naval patrol team of NNS Pathfinder, near Boskalis Nigeria Limited dredger, along Wogono and Okrika channels in Rivers State.
“At the point of arrest, the crew claimed that the product (petroleum) belonged to the Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo (Oil) Shield.
“In the course of interrogation, the suspects admitted that the barge and the product belonged to them and not the JTF commander,” he added.
Fadeyi also assured that the Nigerian navy would do its best to ensure that illegal bunkering did not thrive in Rivers State, stressing that NNS Pathfinder would continue to confront the oil thieves in order to save the country from huge economic waste.