4 Nigerian stowaways nabbed in Malaysian-bound cargo vessel

Four Nigerians, Ahmed Azeez, 24, Tunde Yagba, 33, Adewale Sunday, 25 and Ajose Kehinde, 33, who had smuggled themselves into a Malaysian-bound cargo vessel without proper documentation, were yesterday nabbed in their bid to travel out of the country.
It was gathered that operatives of the Marine Police Command arrested Azeez, Yagba and Kehinde who had boarded a Malaysia bound cargo ship, after Sunday was rushed to hospital following an ulcer he developed due to lack of food inside the ship.
According to an anonymous source, the tip-off from the Amphibious Ambush Squad of the Marine Command led by DSP Ben Ogungbure, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Maritime Police Command, Muhammed Katsina, began to track the movement of the remaining three stowaways.

He explained that the suspects were tracked 23 hours after they had departed, adding that upon interrogation, the command discovered they have travelled to various countries illegally but were deported.
He described the arrest as positive fallout of the Basic Marine Operation Course (BMOC) undertaken by 39 policemen at the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Quorra.
“Upon my assumption of office as AIG Maritime, I made a pledge to empower a wide range of security architecture to cover our maritime environment, the waterways and littoral communities.
“Now, we are gradually dominating the maritime environment through our network of intelligence, which is very active.
“In this matter, it’s a case of self human trafficking and stowaway of four young Nigerians who conspired with a criminal motive to travel out of the country without proper documentation.
“The suspects, all indigenes of Snake Island Village behind Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, conspired with an intent to commit felony. They stole a canoe under the cover of darkness and paddled to a Malaysian-bound cargo ship MV Maersk Casablanca.

“The vessel was berthed at Tin Can Island Port and trespassed into the vessel. They dived into the water and sneaked through the propeller into the manhole, where they hid themselves in a small compartment.
“It happened that 23 hours after the ship had sailed out, my intelligence group from the Amphibious Ambush Squad (AAS) alerted me of the presence of some strange elements in the vessel.
“We quickly alerted our operatives at Onne Port, in collaboration with the men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) who played a commendable role and they were found and arrested,”Katsina said.