Mariners engage lawyer to secure freedom for jailed Seafarers

Tayo Oladipupo

Mariners under the aegis of Concerned Seafarers have reaffirmed their commitment to fighting for seamen in prison custodies as services of a lawyer have been engaged to commence necessary actions for them to regain their freedom.

Our correspondent learned that some seafarers are currently languishing in prison facilities across Nigeria for various charges for which some of them have been sentenced to prison terms ranging between five and ten years.

But the Concerned Seafarers have insisted that some of those suffering in detentions can still regain their freedom if the services of a competent lawyer are engaged because according to them, some of the seafarers are suffering from offences they know nothing about.

Our correspondent who was in the company of the seafarers to the Ikoyi prison over the weekend, confirmed that some of the seafarers had been in incarceration for close to three and half years while some were sentenced to 10 years over cases bothering on false documentation.

The group which comprises the Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association and Nigerian Association of Master Mariners noted the seafarers have decided to come together in achieving a common goal.

The National President of the Seafarers Union, Engineer Matthew Alalade who led the group to Ikoyi prison re-echoed the need for seafarers to seek counselling from the association before job placements aboard.

Alalade said some of the seafarers in prisons were uninformed which in turn has made them to pay dearly for offences they do not have knowledge about.

The union President who also doubles as Auditor, Trade Union Congress appealed to seafarers to register with the union as a way of seeking protection, adding that if they had joined the union from onset, the union would have been aware of their ordeal and fight for them.

Speaking with the Captain Adetayo Awonuga, a member of the Concerned Seafarers group said that “We see that what is going on in the maritime sector is not right concerning we core professionals, that is why we came together and rallied round and started the movement.

“We now have a direction as seafarers and now more knowledgeable about what it takes and how to go about our jobs and we will still go for more sensitisation of our people to let them know their rights because if they know their rights, they won’t get into some problems.

“I believe with this move, we will come out with something good because our lawyer is capable that is why we chose him because we have been following him.

“We want to form a formidable pressure group that can fight its own course and not for other professionals to come and dominate the industry.

He added that the problem had arisen because all seafarers neglected the association and were pursuing their private courses and jobs.

He maintained that having seen that their members were going to jail for malicious reasons, they decided to rise to the occasion.

Also speaking, Barrister Eyitayo Ogunyemi said he interviewed five crew members comprising of over twenty persons whose cases have been determined and given ten years imprisonment term while some were given five years jail term.

He quipped that some of the inmates are still facing trial while the trials of others are yet to commence even as cases of others are pending in the court.

He said, “We will have to search the records of the court for all cases to enable us have an holistic view of what is before the court and also guide us on the steps to take. In doing this, we would need to apply for the certified true copy of all court papers in each case, while we would go ahead to prepare application letter.

“For the cases still undergoing trial, subject to the union’s approval, we ought to be at the court for their respective next court sittings. Coincidentally, the cases are coming up in quick succession in November