Leadership (Abuja)
Ben Dunno
19 November 2008
Abuja — The twenty-two Phillipinos Arrested by the joint Military task Force (JTF) for allegedly engaging in illegal oil bunkering', in the Niger Delta will soon be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.
Parading the Phillipinos on behalf of the JTF High Command, at the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Warri, Delta State Lt, Col. Rabe Abubakar, the Coordinator/ joint Media Campaign center (JMCC) JTF, said they were arrested on Friday November 14, 2008.
Col. Abubakar disclosed that the JTF Naval Patrol around Escravos Waterways, intercepted a vessel with the false name of "MT KUA" instead of its original name "MT AKUDA", adding that the interception let to the discovery of 12,000 metric tunes of suspected crude oil.
This figure was put at about 84,000 barrels of crude with an estimated price of about N500 million. He said that with the arrest of the 22 Phillipinos, the JTF has made another land mark in the area of lighting thieves in OUT waterways in the Niger Delta.
He further stated that the arrest was made possible through information based On JTF surveillance.JMCC Coordinator disclosed that JTF has commenced preliminary Investigations, noting that as soon as they are through with that, the 22 suspects would be handed over to the EFCC. for prosecution. He assured that the task force would their Nigerian co1laborators except investigations prove otherwise.He reiterated that the JTF Commander, Brig. Gen. Navan Rimtip's zero tolerance against illegal bunkering and militancy in the Niger Delta is still in force and called on both local and international criminals to leave the Niger Delta waterways alone.
He, however said that the JTF has not been finding it easy in the hands of the militants as they had attacked men of the Joint Task Force three times since (lie arrest of the 22 Phillipinos, a pointer to the fact that they may have links with the Niger Delta militants,
It was gathered that the militants in protest at the arrest of the vessel involved in the alleged illegal oil bunkering, last Sunday hi jacked a cargo ship coming into Warri conveying materials for the Escravos Gas To Liquid (EGTL) project.
Attempt to speak with the Phillipinos was blocked by the JTF as they insisted that they cannot speak with anybody for now.
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