NIMASA Arrests Vessel With 80,000 Litres Of Cooked Diesel

The Maritime Guard Command, an anti-sea crime joint arm of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy, has arrested a service cargo vessel, the MV Arti, laden with over 80,000 litres of automotive gas oil (AGO) commonly known as diesel suspected to have been cooked, rather than refined.

Commander of the Guard, Navy Capt. Promise Dappa, who disclosed this in Apapa, Lagos, however assured that the issue of oil theft would soon become a thing of the past in the country.

He explained that the MV Arti was arrested at the Bakare Jetty, Kirikiri water front in Apapa, with two crew members, as they supervised the discharge of the diesel into trucks, perhaps, for onward movement to petrol stations.

“Other crew members and operators of the receiving trucks had disappeared from the loading point on sighting officers of the Maritime Guard command”, the Navy Captain said.

Dappa  further explained that the vessel is now being detained at the NIMASA Resource Centre jetty, at Kirikiri, Lagos, adding that the arrested crew and vessel would be handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.