Navy warns of dangers of travelling as stowaway, arrests 75 Nigerians in the act

By Abiodun OBA

The Nigerian Navy (NN) on Wednesday warned of the dangers of attempting to travel as a stowaway.

Director of Naval Information, Commodore A Adams-Aliu who made this known on Wednesday in Abuja, emphasized that such dangers 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.

Noting that the force is concerned by the upsurge in cases of stowaways in Nigerian waters, Adams-Aliu disclosed that the Nigerian Navy has arrested a total of 75 stowaways who attempted to travel out of the country through criminal and unconventional ways of hiding under the rudder of cargo ships sailing out of the nation’s waters.

While decrying the menace, the Director of Naval Information said, “For clarity, the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention) defines 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, dangerous and is considered a security threat to ship-owners.

“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.

Specifically, the details of stowaways extracted by the NN between August 2023 and April 2024 are shown in a table seen by Vanguard.

August 2023, Vessel, MSC MARTHA, 5 Stowaways apprehended in Lagos Channel, September 2023, Vessel Charminar Panama, 8 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy, October 2023, Vessel, Gwangzhou Highway Panama, 11 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, November 2023, Vessel, NATAL, 8 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy

In December 2023, Container Vessel Teme, 4 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, December 2023, Vessel, Grande Guinea, 2 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy, December 2023

In January 2024, Vessel, MT FRONT ALTIERS, 3 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy, February 2024, Vessel MT CHIP, 4 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, March 2024, Vessel, MT Advantage Love, 3 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel, March 2024, Vessel, MT Lysias Valleta, 9 stowaways arrested at Lagos Fairway Buoy and April 2024, Vessel MT PRINCESS ERIN, 4 stowaways arrested at Lagos Channel bringing the total to 75 between August 2023 – April 2024.

Commodore Adams-Aliu continued, “During the operations, the QRT carefully extracted the stowaways who had concealed themselves inside the rudder compartment of the vessels.

“All apprehended stowaways were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in accordance with the established protocols for further necessary action.

“The NN wishes to enlighten the general 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.”