About one year after Shipping Position Weekly scooped the story of Nigerian cadets who were deported from Ukraine on account of alleged disagreement with the man who reportedly arranged their trip, another batch of freshly trained cadets have arrived in Nigeria.
The latest set, numbering about 20 reportedly came into the country in December last year with tales of broken promises and abandonment by both the maritime school where they were to undergo both pre-sea training and the proprietor of their school in Nigeria.
The pathetic story which was told to Shipping Position Weekly exclusively followed from the story of their plight which we had carried in our Volume 2, 7th edition of December 8, 2008 with the headline “Shame: Nigerian cadets deported from Ukraine”.
Two of the affected cadets came into our office last week to disclose how they were allegedly tricked into parting with almost N800, 000 to secure passage to Ukraine for a phantom sea time on world class vessels. They also had to pay about $3,200 for other questionable purposes.
For safety reasons, we have decided to hide their identities in their no-holds barred chat with our correspondent.
Please go to pages 6 and 7 for the full interview
Shipping Position Weekly recalls that several of their colleagues who had been taken to the same Ukraine by the same maritime training institution simply identified as African Maritime Academy were deported on the orders of that country’s immigration authorities.
The unlucky cadets, most of whom had completed their pre- sea training programme in the Nigerian institution which is purportedly being run by a marine engineer, one Mohammed Yusuf reportedly got the boot to leave Ukraine after a disagreement on their allowances and the events that followed.
One of the affected cadets who used to visit our website had sent a “save our soul” message to Shipping Position Weekly that he and some of his colleagues were actually deported after a shoot out at an airport in Ukraine.
Discussion about this post