The Nigerian Navy Ship NNS Victory in Calabar has announced another success recorded by its patrol team along the creeks of Cross River State.
It said the patrol team on December 26, 2019 accosted a large wooden boat laden with 1408 bags of foreign parboiled rice.
The boat crew on sighting the NNS Victory patrol team, absconded from the boat through the creek, but the boat was impounded and safely moved to the base where the 1408 bags of rice were offloaded and kept under their custody.
Commander of the NNS Victory, Rear Admiral Vincent Okeke, announced the development to reporters at the weekend in Calabar while handing over the 1408 bags of rice along with another 681 bags of a similar foreign rice seized in two other separate operations with six suspects to the Task Force team leader of Operation Swift Response- a combine security team in charge of border crimes headed by Ali Madaki, a customs officer.
Rear Admiral Okeke said in a separate operation on December 28, 2019, the NNS Victory patrol team arrested six men suspected to be rice smugglers at Utn Creek, off Tom Shot Island.
“The suspects were arrested with a large wooden boat laden with bags of foreign parboiled rice suspected to have been smuggled from Cameroon. Upon disembarkation at the NNS Victory Jetty, the base recovered 631 bags of foreign rice brands.”
The suspects in the boat with 631 bags of rice were four Cameroonians and two Nigerians.
He added: “Similarly, following a tip-off on the disembarkation of some bags of contraband rice, NNS Victory patrol team arrested 50 bags of rice at the Safe Journey Jetty. No suspect was apprehended during the raid.
“This brings the number of the total bag of seized foreign parboiled rice handed over to the Task Force Leader of Operation Swift Response, Calabar Area to 2,089. The total market value of the seized items is about one hundred and fifteen million five hundred and eighty-one thousand naira.
“Specifically, the six suspects are only concerned with the 631 bags of rice arrested with them on the December 28. “
According to the NNS Victory commander, “the base has intensified patrols to curb smuggling and other nefarious crimes within its area of operation. This is indicated by the fact that within the last nine weeks, the base has recorded 10 major arrests on contraband items. These items which include rice and illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil are worth over three hundred and fifty-one million, eight hundred and seventeen thousand naira (N351, 817, 000.00) only.
“Pertinently, these arrests are in line with the Nigerian Navy’s constitutional roles and in tandem with the vision of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral I E Ibas, which focused on enhancing national prosperity and security.”
Responding, the Task Force Leader of Operation Swift Response, Calabar Area, Ali Madaki, assured that all the 2,089 bags of rice would be stored in the government warehouse under the Nigerian Customs authority awaiting subsequent directive after due investigations and prosecution of the suspects.