Missing ship: Three Admirals, others to be court martialled
Yusuf Alli and Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja
AUTHORITIES of the Nigerian Navy on Wednesday redeployed three Rear Admirals preparatory to their being court martialled along side some junior officers over the disappearance of an oil-laden ship, MT. African Pride, while in custody.
The affected Admirals, reassigned by a signal from Naval Headquarters in Abuja, are Former Flag Officer Commanding Western Command, Rear Admiral Bob-Manuel; Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Francis Agbiti; and Flag Officer Commanding Western Command, Rear Admiral Kolawole.
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Samuel Afolayan, who spoke with our correspondents on the phone said, �It is true that they are going to face court martial.
�The court martial will be in Lagos but we are trying to constitute the team. They are going to be tried by officers of their rank that is why there may be some delay. We need officers of their rank who are not many.
�Some junior officers will also be tried along with the Rear Admirals but I cannot give you the exact number now.�
Asked to respond to allegations that the officers were being tried when the Board of Inquiry has not submitted its report, he said, �The Board of Inquiry has submitted its report, that is why we now know those who have case to answer.
�All I can say is that get your team ready to cover the court martial session in Lagos. We are acting on the report of the Board of Inquiry in inaugurating the court martial.�
He ruled out any bias explaining that every step was within the military law.
Although the Chief of Naval Staff did not say where the Rear Admirals were redeployed to, our correspondents gathered that they were asked to report at Naval Training Command, Apapa, Lagos.
But some senior officers have faulted the redeployment of the Admirals..
A top senior officer said, �It is against the service rule to have a Board of Inquiry in place and without any report from the board officers are being redeployed.
�The service has not made the report of the BOI known and we do not know why only these three Rear Admirals were identified.
�By their sudden redeployment, it means that the Navy is already presuming that the three officers are guilty.
�All is not well within the service because it is apparent that these three experienced officers are being used as scapegoats. It is sad that they have been sent to training command for no just cause.
�We want President Olusegun Obasanjo who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to look at this issue beyond the Navy so that the innocent will not suffer.�
The officer also claimed that the three Admirals would be arraigned before the Navy Court Martial because of their testimonies at public hearings of the House of Representatives on the missing ships.
At one of the sittings of the House last week, one of the affected officers, Manuel, who was the Flag Officer Commanding the Western Naval Command up to July 5, admitted that an attempt was made to induce him with $100,000 to release the ship.
He gave the name of the person who made the attempt as simply one Shola According to him, when he rebuffed Shola�s moves, a former Minister whom he did not name, approached him, advising that he should play ball with Shola to release the ship.
He also said that Shola at a point dropped the name of his Chief of Naval Staff, in the desperate effort to get the ship released illegally.
�At that point I was alarmed and I called the Chief of Naval Staff,�
A legal advice passed on to him secretly, cut short his explanation on what was Afolayan�s reaction and what followed.
At least eight naval officers, including a Commanding Officer in the Western Naval Command were last week arrested for alleged complicity in the missing ship, Motor Tanker African Pride.
Those arrested are currently being detained in Apapa, Lagos State according to a reliable source at the Naval Headquarters Abuja.
The source said that two Commanders, names withheld were among those cooling off in detention over the issue.
MT African Pride, the source confirmed, was arrested on October 8, 2003 by NNS Nwanba while on routine patrol of the nation�s waterways.
He said that the ship was handed over the next day to NNS BEECROFT.
The source said that the detained Commanding Officer, described as �probably the master mind of the missing ship� and his accomplices had already appeared before a Board of Inquiry set up by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Samuel Afolayan.
The Flag Officer Commanding Naval Training Command, Real Admiral Sampson Usman Okee, heads the BOI.
Other members of the BOI include Commodore E.U. Ekwere, Navy Captain H. O. Ngonadi, Navy Captain Medani, Navy Captain Manuyibeja and Navy Captain Usman.
The source said that though the two Commanders had been in detention �since the bubble of the missing ship burst� the others including the Commanding Officer were picked up on September 20.
