Written by Emma Amaize
Friday, July 18, 2008
FOURTEEN Filipinos, suspected to be international oil bunkerers, arrested last week, by the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta with 150-160 metric tonnes of stolen crude oil at the Bight of Benin in Bayelsa State have spilled the beans on how they carry out illegal oil bunkering in Nigeria with their Nigerian accomplices, according to the task force.
Filipinos arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Bayelsa State last week over theft of crude oil, while being paraded on Thursday.
The Filipinos were earlier reported to have been whisked to Abuja but the JTF said, “After our preliminary investigations, they would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further action in order to unmask their Nigerian collaborators”.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State recently revealed that there is international dimension to oil bunkering and urged the security agencies to do more investigations and fish them out, as oil bunkering would not stop if the international groups involved in the business were not identified and stopped.
But the captain of the ship, Rey Chavez told newsmen that they were attacked by militants and held hostage for hours, but, later rescued by the soldiers, who, to their amazement, claimed that they were bunkerers.
The JTF, however, said he was telling the press a story different from the confessional statement that was already signed by him, obviously to protect the identities of their Nigerian collaborators.
Spokesman of the JTF, David Ejoor Barracks, Effurun, Delta State, Major O.A. Ochagwuba who paraded the Filipinos before newsmen, yesterday, said the men were communicating on radio with their boss in Greece while the operation was going on in Nigeria, adding that the vessel that was used for the bunkering, MV Lina, was flying a Panama flag, but, in actuality, it is registered and owned by a Greek shipping company, called Corinthian and was sailing towards the high sea without navigational light.
According to him, “When they were accosted to stop, they refused until warning shots were fired across their bow before they realized that the gunboats meant business. The crew then went into hiding and the ship wandered aimlessly for some time before our own troops boarded it and arrested its crew and changed the course back to Brass, where the ship is being anchored under custody for now”.
The JTF gave the names of the 14 Filipinos as, Rey Chavez (Captain), Nelso Corpin, Antonio Norgino, Tirso Olaviar, Jerome Competente, Joselin Gabion, Rexy Aldovino, Rito Bajoyo, Jun Garcenila, Judel Garcenila, Eugenio Mediano, Mark Dimaano, Jose Palimero and Louis Givesania.
Major Ochagwuba said the ship captain, Mr. Rey Chavez in a signed confessional statement told security agents that he was directed by his boss in Greece to sail to Southern Nigeria, where he would be met by four Nigerians who would guide him to where he would load a cargo.
“He met them and they guided the ship up Nun River, still sailing without light. He said that he was not given any manifest by his boss and that all the transactions were done between his boss and his Nigerian contacts that sent four guides that led him up to Nun River.
“He further stated that when they got to the point where they were to load the cargo, he realized that there was no terminal but only a hose of about 150 m in length coming out of a bush, adding that there was no light except torch light. He said he radioed his base about his observations and he was told to calm down and follow instructions from his guide, which he did.
“He further confirmed that his cargo capacity is 2,400 metric tonnes and that he loaded 150-160 metric tonnes before they leave anchor at about 0200 hours and headed for the sea. According to him, it was after they were intercepted and arrested that he realized that what they were doing was illegal”, Ochagwuba asserted.
In his words, “Before own troops boarded the ship, their Nigerian accomplices jumped into the water and swam away.
From the foregoing, there is no doubt that they have been involved in this illegal business for sometime now”, saying, “This huge success is coming on the heels of increased vigilance of our troops and the widening of our intelligence network and the enforcement of the blockade”.
Ochagwuba said the Commander, JTF, Brigadier –General Nanven Rimptip had commended 73 Bn, the unit that effected the arrest for a job well done and has also warned that hard time awaits any illegal bunker, whether indigenous or alien and that the full weight of the law would be brought to bear on them to serve as a deterrent to other international illegal oil bunkerers.
He dismissed the claim by a militant group that its men were the first to accost the Filipinos, which they thought were British citizens and left them when they found out that they were Filipinos, saying that the criminals were trying to blow smoke and divert attention from the real crime.
The captain of the ship, Rey Chavez who spoke to newsmen on behalf of other members of the crew said he was not aware that they were involved in illegal bunkering until they were arrested by soldiers.
He said he thought that what was going on was a genuine business, as he communicated his employer when he noticed that their guides were sailing without light, but, he was told to cooperate with them.
His words, “On July 10, 2008, at about 9.00 am, we were just about 50 miles off the Nigerian east coast in Bayelsa State, sailing to Botswana from Cotonou when some armed youths in civilian clothes attacked us”.
“They captured the vessel and came on board forcibly. We were very afraid, everybody was lying down and we were afraid. Then, they locked us all in one room, and we were there until the NIgerian soldiers came and arrested us”, he said.
He disclosed that he took over as the captain of the ship, last year, adding that he was not aware that there was anything incriminating in the ship when they were arrested by soldiers, saying they usuall ferry “supplies” between Cotonou and Bayelsa, in Nigeria.
What he told newsmen is different from the confession the JTF said he made on behalf of the crew and it was not clear whether the militants that allegedly attacked them wanted to use the vessel for illegal purpose.
News -- How we carry out oil bunkering in Niger Delta, Filipinos confess
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