The Nigerian Navy Ship Victory has arrested six Bangladesh nationals and 16 Nigerians on the Calabar waterways for alleged diversion of 22 metric tons of Automotive Gas Oil.
The arrest of the suspects along with their vessel, MV Princess Oge, was, however, described as suspicious by a police source.
The Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship Victory in Calabar, Commodore Salihu Jibril, had on Friday handed over the crew members of the vessel to the Cross River State Police Command, alleging that the suspects engaged in an illegal ship-to-ship transfer of 22 metric tons of Automotive Gas Oil along the Calabar water channel.
Jubril had said that the ship was caught carrying out the illegal activity and was immediately arrested, adding that the vessel was given permission to move the petroleum product to Calabar.
But Southern City News learnt from a top police source on Tuesday that the navy might not have carried out thorough investigation before confiscating the vessel.
The source, for instance, said the receiving ship was not arrested alongside MV Princess Oge, which gave room for suspicion.
He said, “There is more to the arrest. They were probably not satisfied with the security operatives they discovered aboard the ship. That could be the reason for the arrest, otherwise they did not discover anything.
“The ship had every document, besides, where is the other vessel with which they carried out the illegal ship-to-ship transfer of the petroleum product?”
When contacted, the Cross River State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said investigation was still ongoing and would only comment after investigation had been completed.
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