Over 800 jerry cans of 30 litres Premium Motor Spirit in a wooden boat have been intercepted by the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft Patrol Team in collaboration with the Forward Operating Base Badagry close to the boundary between Nigeria and Benin Republic.
According to The PUNCH, the arrest was made on Friday.
This is contained in a statement signed on Saturday by the NNS Beecroft Base Information Officer, Sub-Lieutenant H. A Collins.
The statement quoted the Commander, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, as saying that the boat, which was sailing seaward 80 nautical miles from the shore, was intercepted by the NNS Beecroft Patrol Team in collaboration with the Forward Operating Base Badagry.
He said, “In a feat of maritime security prowess, under the ongoing Operation Water Guard, the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft Patrol Team in collaboration with the Forward Operating Base Badagry, under the strategic leadership of the Commander Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft and Maritime Component Commander, Operation AWATSE, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, successfully intercepted a huge wooden boat, laden with over 800 jerricans of 30 litres each containing products suspected to be PMS.
“The boat was sailing seaward 80 nautical miles from the shore very close to the boundary between Nigeria and Benin Republic. The arrest was made in the early hours of Friday, January 19, 2024.”