FROM RUSSIA WITH GUNS

•Navy hands over illegal arms ship crew to police

No fewer than 15 Russian crew of MV Myre SeaDiver, a vessel alleged to have sailed into Nigeria carrying arms have been handed over to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police. Handing over the men to Mr. Zuberu Muazu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police from the SFU, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Beecroft, Commodore Martin Njoku said the process was to enable the police carry out further investigation.

He said the Nigerian Navy had performed the preliminary stage of the investigation and had discovered that the vessel was carrying 14 assorted AK 47 rifles with 3, 643 ammunition and 20 Berneli MRI 20 barrel with 4, 955 ammunition, adding that the vessel had no permission to be in the territorial waters of the country at the time of arrest. He said the handover of the crew to the SFU was a directive from the ‘higher authorities’ in Abuja, saying that MV Myre SeaDiver flying Cook Island flag with Russian crew was intercepted within the Lagos roadstead on suspicion of carrying arms and ammunition.

Commodore Njoku told Daily Sun that the vessel was escorted to the Naval base for investigation, which it was gathered started since October 2012 when it was arrested. Daily Sun further learnt from independent source that the vessel, before arriving Lagos, had left the Port of Toliara Madagascar en-route Senegal with a 15-man crew.

The source told Daily Sun that the vessel made a detour to Lagos on September 20, 2012 for replenishment and crew change, which involved the change of the vessel’s captain who was identified as Mr. Makaov Mikhail. Mikhail, it was learnt flew out of Nigeria, apparently to Russia on September 20 last year, but the new captain of the vessel who was identified as Zhelyazkov Andrey said the vessel could not sail due to some mechanical defects which had to be rectified.

The captain said the arms and ammunition discovered onboard were for personal protection and the protection of the ship. In his reaction after the vessel, her crew and the weapons were handed over to the him, the police representative, Mr. Muazu, DCP, said they were commencing investigation immediately but said he did not know when investigation would be concluded.

However, while the handover was taking place, officials from the Russian Embassy in Lagos, who were allegedly making frantic effort to get the crew and the ship released arrived the scene, but were kept away by the Nigerian officials.

They told Daily Sun that they were not talking to the media to avoid complicating the issue, especially after reports had said effort were on between Abuja and Moscow to get them released. Another report said the men had been released after a telephone conversation between Russian and Nigerian foreign ministers.

Source: Sun