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Oil thieves escape detection by turning off vessel identification system, says NPA MD

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The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says oil thieves usually turn off the automatic identification system (AIS) of vessels to avoid detection.

The AIS is an automatic tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and is used by vessel traffic services.

Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director, NPA, said it is common for persons conducting illegal activities on Nigerian waterways to turn off the AIS.

The NPA MD spoke on Tuesday at a press briefing at the state house in Abuja.

Speaking on the vessel recently arrested with stolen crude close to the Escravos channel, he said: “The intelligent persons bringing in vessels to steal crude, one of the things they do is, they shut down the automatic identification systems (AIS).

“This is what is needed in terms of transmission for you to even know when the vessel comes in and the location they to go to.

“They come in legally but then they go by the left-hand side to commit illegal activities after switching off their AIS. We are going ahead to deploy the vessel traffic service (VTS) and to also have information in terms of vessel movement.”

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Speaking further, Bello-Koko expressed worry about the theft of buoys on shipping routes.

“Each of the buoys which serve as navigational route signs costs between N12 million and N20 million, whereas no fewer than 25 of these maritime safety equipment have been stolen from Nigerians waters this year alone,” he said.

“Apart from the cost of the buoys, it is even costly to install and deploy them on waters.’’

Bello-Koko explained that the absence of the buoys puts ships at risk of running aground.

 

He said as a result of the anxiety, many foreign ships’ captains choose to avoid certain areas of Nigerian waterways.

To checkmate the activities of the vandals, the NPA boss said the management had been interacting with the locals and their leaders in communities where the theft occurs.

Bello-Koko said the stolen buoys are often turned to scrap, with the perpetrators vandalising the sensors.

“And to also be fair to the communities, we have had some instances where the buoys were naturally taken away by nature, they went adrift, they ended up on the shores of some communities,” he said.

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The NPA boss added that some communities have “called us a couple of times to tell us that there is a buoy that has gone adrift”.

“We believe probably the communities do not even know the individuals that are involved in these activities. So we are monitoring the buoys. And that is how we got to know how many are stolen any day it is stolen,” he said.

“Because the captains are also taking vessels in and out of the water channels, they will naturally know when they can’t find the beacons on the buoys meaning that something is missing, and they normally report it.”

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UPDATED: DHQ declares physics professor, 7 others wanted over murder of 17 soldiers in Delta

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The Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted in connection to the killing of army personnel in Okuama community, Delta state.

The 17 army personnel were killed on March 14 during an operation in the community.

 

Among those declared wanted are Ekpekpo Arthur, a professor of physics at the Delta State University; Akeywiru Omotegbono, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, a lady; Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.

The names of the deceased soldiers are A.H Ali, D.E Obi, S.D. Ashafa, U. Zakari, Yahaya Saidu, Danbaba Yahaya, Kabir Bashir, Abdullahi Ibrahim, Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Adamu Ibrahim, Hamman Peter, and Ibrahim Adamu.

After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

On Wednesday, the personnel were buried at the military cemetery in Abuja and were posthumously conferred with national honours by President Tinubu.

READ  Navy arrests oil thieves, impounds vessel

 

The president also offered scholarships to children of the late officers.

 

Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel, Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising” that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.

The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of searching to recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.

 

He added that the Nigerian Army exercised “a lot of restraint” in the search for missing arms and body parts of the deceased soldiers.

 

The army chief also said some of the widows of the slain officers are pregnant.

 

“The Okuama killing has added to the care of the Nigerian Army and, by extension, the Nigerian state, 10 widows, three of whom are four, five, and eight months pregnant, 21 orphans, and many other dependents, which include parents,” Lagbaja said.

READ  16 suspected oil thieves arrested in Rivers

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We didn’t monitor Labour Party national convention, says INEC

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it did not monitor the national convention of the Labour Party (LP).

 

Recall that on Wednesday, the LP conducted its national convention at the Grand Seasons Hotel, in Nnewi, Anambra state.

Julius Abure was re-elected as chairman of the party at the convention.

However, Rotimi Oyekanmi, media aide to Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said that the conduct of the convention was not monitored by the electoral umpire.

Oyekanmi did not specify why INEC did not monitor the convention.

The convention was initially slated for March 29 but was later changed to March 27. The leadership of the party had said the date was changed because the initial day falls on Good Friday, a very important date for the Christian faithful across the world.

The venue was also changed from Abia to Anambra.

 

Speaking on the change of venue, Kehinde Edun, LP national legal adviser, said the party duly informed INEC about the change in venue and date.

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“So, we are at liberty to pick any venue of our choice. We only need to inform INEC about the change in venue and the time,” Edun said.

 

There have been calls for the party to suspend its national convention.

 

On March 17, the house of representatives caucus of the LP called for the suspension of the convention to enable the party “properly plan” the event.

 

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described Abure’s re-election as “an illegality”.

 

On March 16, the NLC and LP traded words over calls for the suspension of the party’s convention and resignation of Abure as chairman of the party.

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DHQ declares eight wanted over murder of 17 soldiers in Delta

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The Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted in connection to the killing of army personnel in Okuama community, Delta state.

The 17 army personnel were killed on March 14 during an operation in the community.

 

DHQ named those declared wanted as Akeywiru Omotegbono, Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.

More to follow…

READ  NSCDC arrests 10 suspected oil thieves with over 28,000 litres of diesel
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