|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Police Put Marine Formation On Red Alert Over Missing Ships
FOLLOWING the disappearance of previously detained ship, MT African Pride, the police command has sent signals to all marine formations of the force asking them to beef up security in all areas of the nation's waters within their jurisdiction.
The Guardian learnt that the signal, dispatched early last week, came in the wake of some other surreptitious moves to tamper with other ships being held by the Nigerian Navy. The Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, disclosed that the police had foiled moves by some people to release the detained ships.
Balogun made the disclosure while testifying at the on-going public hearing on the missing ship organised by the House Committee on Navy.
He some staff of the Ministry of Justice in Enugu had issued a legal advice asking the police to release some accused persons held in connection with the ships, as well as the ships, but he objected to the advice and reported the matter to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The signal sent by the police high command expressly stated that they should embark on vigorous patrol of areas within the jurisdiction of the police and ensure that prompt reports of unusual movements are forwarded to the appropriate quarters.
It was further gathered that consequent upon the signal, the marine wing of the police has released all the patrol boats recently purchased for the police by the federal government. The areas affected by the signal include Lagos and the Niger Delta.
MT African Pride was arrested in August last year and detained by the Navy but the Chief of Naval staff, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan, during his testimony at the public hearing, last Wednesday, claimed that the Navy handed over the ships and the suspects to the police. The police chief in his own testimony said only suspects were handed over to the police and not the ships because the ships were on the high seas where the police have no access to it.
He also challenged the naval authorities to produce evidence of the handing since there was no way such a hand over could have taken place between the services without documentation.
|
|
||||||||||||
