- Category: Nationa
- Written by From Willie Etim, Yenagoa
SILENCE pervaded the headquarters of the Bayelsa State
Police Command Sunday following the alleged disappearance of an earlier
arrested Port Harcourt-based lawyer identified as Angello, and an oil
vessel allegedly carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of stolen crude oil.
The lawyer was reportedly arrested last Wednesday at a bar in the Lekki area of Lagos alongside his client, Chief Ebi, and three other crew of the oil vessel, while the crude is suspected to have been stolen from the Agip Oil Company pipeline.
Meanwhile, the family of the arrested lawyer, through its spokesperson, Chief Kelvin Abieripie, told reporters at the weekend in Yenagoa that their investigations alongside the police command showed that those that allegedly arrested the suspects are not policemen and might have abducted the lawyer and the stolen crude.
According to the family, those involved in the purported arrest of their son and others were found to be impostors, “and family members now believe that the security operatives that invaded the bar and boarded the vessel claiming that the petroleum product was stolen had in fact abducted Angelo and Ebi as well as their associates and the vessel at the point where the product was to be delivered to the buyers.”
Abieripie said the missing lawyer “was only invited by Ebi to draw up the legal documents relating to a petroleum products deal between him (Ebi) and some unnamed buyers. To the best of our knowledge, the transaction was legal and the petroleum products were properly acquired.”
Family members’ fears are based on the facts that there has not been any contact with the vessel’s abductors, neither has the vessel been spotted at any of the many private or government jetties around Lagos or its environs.
Attempts to get the position of the Bayelsa State Police Command on the development failed as its spokesperson, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said he was not aware of the details but only “of media report on an arrested lawyer.”
Meanwhile, the Central Naval Command yesterday announced the seizure of an Oil Vessel known as MT Frankesen and arrest of 12 persons over alleged theft of 1,092 litres of stolen crude oil along Akassa Community in Brass, Bayelsa State.
Of the 12 suspects, three were identified as Ghanaian nationals. The owner of the seized vessel has also been identified as Port Harcourt-based businessman, John George.
Parading the suspects before newsmen in Brass at the weekend, the Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Sidi-Ali Hassan Usman, said though the vessel’s movement log showed evidence of previous voyages to Ghana, its arrest with the crew was carried out by naval operatives attached to the Forward Operating Base, FORMOSO.
“At the time of arrest, the crew consists of nine Nigerians and three Ghanaians,” he said. “Upon interrogation, the Captain, Adeyemi Akinleye, confessed on video that they were instructed by the owner of the vessel, known as John George, residing in Port Harcourt, to load stolen crude oil from two barges around Akassa and thereafter proceed to Tema in Ghana, where the product would be disposed off.”
“The captain, giving further details of their mission, revealed that a local pilot was used to navigate the vessel into Nun River while one Mr. Destiny was the agent that supplied the product. MT Frankensen was loaded with over 1,092,000 litres of stolen crude oil contained in eight of the 10-tank compartments on board the vessel at the time of the arrest.”
According to Usman, preliminary investigation showed at the time of arrest that the vessel could not tender relevant documents and permits required for the movement of petroleum products through Nigerian waters.
More so, the vessel’s movement log showed evidence of previous voyages to Ghana, and “it seems reasonable therefore to infer that this is not the first attempt by the owner of the vessel to steal crude oil in Nigeria for the purpose of selling in Ghana.”
The lawyer was reportedly arrested last Wednesday at a bar in the Lekki area of Lagos alongside his client, Chief Ebi, and three other crew of the oil vessel, while the crude is suspected to have been stolen from the Agip Oil Company pipeline.
Meanwhile, the family of the arrested lawyer, through its spokesperson, Chief Kelvin Abieripie, told reporters at the weekend in Yenagoa that their investigations alongside the police command showed that those that allegedly arrested the suspects are not policemen and might have abducted the lawyer and the stolen crude.
According to the family, those involved in the purported arrest of their son and others were found to be impostors, “and family members now believe that the security operatives that invaded the bar and boarded the vessel claiming that the petroleum product was stolen had in fact abducted Angelo and Ebi as well as their associates and the vessel at the point where the product was to be delivered to the buyers.”
Abieripie said the missing lawyer “was only invited by Ebi to draw up the legal documents relating to a petroleum products deal between him (Ebi) and some unnamed buyers. To the best of our knowledge, the transaction was legal and the petroleum products were properly acquired.”
Family members’ fears are based on the facts that there has not been any contact with the vessel’s abductors, neither has the vessel been spotted at any of the many private or government jetties around Lagos or its environs.
Attempts to get the position of the Bayelsa State Police Command on the development failed as its spokesperson, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said he was not aware of the details but only “of media report on an arrested lawyer.”
Meanwhile, the Central Naval Command yesterday announced the seizure of an Oil Vessel known as MT Frankesen and arrest of 12 persons over alleged theft of 1,092 litres of stolen crude oil along Akassa Community in Brass, Bayelsa State.
Of the 12 suspects, three were identified as Ghanaian nationals. The owner of the seized vessel has also been identified as Port Harcourt-based businessman, John George.
Parading the suspects before newsmen in Brass at the weekend, the Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Sidi-Ali Hassan Usman, said though the vessel’s movement log showed evidence of previous voyages to Ghana, its arrest with the crew was carried out by naval operatives attached to the Forward Operating Base, FORMOSO.
“At the time of arrest, the crew consists of nine Nigerians and three Ghanaians,” he said. “Upon interrogation, the Captain, Adeyemi Akinleye, confessed on video that they were instructed by the owner of the vessel, known as John George, residing in Port Harcourt, to load stolen crude oil from two barges around Akassa and thereafter proceed to Tema in Ghana, where the product would be disposed off.”
“The captain, giving further details of their mission, revealed that a local pilot was used to navigate the vessel into Nun River while one Mr. Destiny was the agent that supplied the product. MT Frankensen was loaded with over 1,092,000 litres of stolen crude oil contained in eight of the 10-tank compartments on board the vessel at the time of the arrest.”
According to Usman, preliminary investigation showed at the time of arrest that the vessel could not tender relevant documents and permits required for the movement of petroleum products through Nigerian waters.
More so, the vessel’s movement log showed evidence of previous voyages to Ghana, and “it seems reasonable therefore to infer that this is not the first attempt by the owner of the vessel to steal crude oil in Nigeria for the purpose of selling in Ghana.”
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