A captured wooden boat carrying 273 drums of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS), sometimes known as gasoline, was set fire by the Nigerian Navy ship NNS Victory in the Calabar waterways.
The suspects were detained on way to the Agbani oil port, according to LT CDR Isaac Ayogu, Base Operation Officer of NNS Victory, who spoke with media in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State.
Ayogu claimed that the operation followed the Nigerian Navy’s standard operating procedure, which states that any evidence seized in connection with crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering should be destroyed and any suspects if any, should be turned over to the proper law enforcement agency. This directive came from Chief of Defense Staff General Lucky Irabor.
The Navy is working to purge the marine environment of any illicit activity so that legal maritime operations can flourish, LT CDR Ayogu reassured Nigerians.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, which is the proper prosecuting body, has received the six suspects (NSCDC).
