Navy rescues 5 stowaways from Spain-bound ship in Lagos

Five stowaways, who sneaked into a Spain-bound vessel, MSC MARTHA, have been rescued by personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Beecroft, at the Lagos anchorage.

The stowaways are Effiong Okon (44), Ayewuni Daniel (27), Ajagboma Asiko (29), Adebanjo Ayewumi (23), and Christian Joseph (25).

Explaining how they were arrested, while handing them over to the Nigeria Immigration Service, yesterday, the Commander, NNS Beecroft, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, said: “About 11.50 pm on August 26, while on our normal routine check of vessels that were transiting in and out of Lagos harbour, we received a call from MSC MARTHA  that they observed some unauthorised persons onboard the vessel.

“Immediately the information was received, we informed the FALCON EYE centre, which is the maritime Domain Awareness facility that we use in monitoring the entire maritime environment, which gave details of the information that enabled us to get the coordinates of the vessel.

“On arrival, our men boarded  MSC MARTHA and recovered the unauthorised persons, that is the stowaways. We took them out of the vessel and kept them in custody.

“Upon interrogation, they admitted they boarded the vessel through the Rhoda. The Rhoda is a structure at the bottom of the vessel, which controls the direction.   Two of them first entered. When the additional three came, they were surprised to see the first two persons there. But when they realised they had a common goal, they became friends and remained there with the intention of leaving the shores of the country to another country.”

Commodore Oguntuda said three mobile phones, packs of biscuits, sachet water, personal effects and a cash of N7,900 were found on them.

On their part, the stowaways blamed their indulgence on the harsh economy, lamenting how they were struggling to feed themselves and families.

For Okon, he said he opted to take the risky path after he lost his job and all efforts made to feed his family failed.