Mkpoikana Udoma 20 January 2016, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt -The Nigerian Navy has handed over a vessel, MT Purity, and two crew members to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Port Harcourt.
Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Ibrahim Sanusi, who confirmed the handover of the vessel and the crew members to EFCC, said the vessel was impounded with over 1,000 litres of automated gas oil – also known as diesel – suspected to have been illegally refined.
The commander, represented by the Base Commander, Lt. Commander Sunday Baba-Haruna, explained that the Navy has already conducted a thorough investigation on the impounded vessel before handing it and its crew to the EFCC.
Baba-Haruna, who is also a commanding officer of the NNS Pathfinder, said the Nigerian Navy was working hard to reduce the number of vessels operating illegally in the Nigerian territorial waters.
While speaking with journalists, the head of the counter terrorism and general investigations unit of the EFCC zonal office in Port Harcourt, Mr. Davies Inyang, assured that the EFCC would embark on a thorough investigation before charging the suspects to court.