Juliana Francis
The Nigerian Navy said it has arrested about 75 stowaways between August 2023 to April 2024.
All the suspects tried to leave the Nigerian soil through the Lagos channel. The highest arrest was in October 2023, when 11 persons were arrested and in December 2023, when the Navy also arrested 14 persons.
Director of Information, Commodore A. Adams-Aliu in a press statement, said that the Nigerian Navy (NN) was concerned by the upsurge in cases of stowaways in Nigerian waters.
Adams-Aliu explained that the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention) defined a stowaway as someone who is secreted on a ship, or in cargo without the consent of the shipowners or the master or any other responsible person. Migration as a stowaway is illegal, and dangerous and is considered a security threat to shipowners.
He further said: “In line with the strategic directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, the NN deployed advanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) equipment to vector Quick Response Teams (QRT) to all parts of Nigeria’s territorial waters. Consequently, the NN apprehended about 75 stowaways from August 2023 to April 2024.”
Adams-Aliu also stated that during the operations leading to the arrests of the suspects, the QRT carefully extracted the stowaways who had concealed themselves inside the rudder compartment of the vessels.
He said: “All apprehended stowaways were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) by the established protocols for further necessary action.
“The NN wishes to enlighten the public on the dangers of attempting to travel as a stowaway. These include severe legal consequences and significant health risks such as negative effects of harsh weather conditions, lack of food and water, injuries and even death. Hence, the NN uses this opportunity to discourage Nigerian youths from embarking on such misadventures.”
