Shipowners Keep Mum As Labinjo Rots in Naval Detention

By ZION Olalekan

About eight months after he was allegedly arrested by the Nigerian Navy for offences which were not disclosed to the public, shipowners in Nigeria appear to have abandoned their national president, Capt Niyi Labinjo, as he rots in Naval cell.

The Navy had arrested 15 Nigerians including Group Captain Dada Labinjo, Lt. Commander Sherifat Ibe Lambert (also known as Mrs Bola Labinjo) and Benjamin Gold for an undisclosed offence

However, when our correspondent contacted the Director General of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) Eng Nnadi Ogbuagu recently to know the steps the association and other stakeholders were taking to rescue the NISA President, he has nothing to say.

Apart from Nnadi’s refusal to comment, many shipowners whom were contacted by our correspondent have kept mum as Navy continue to hold on to Labinjo.

One of the stakeholders, Director of the Merchant Navy Directorate, Capt Abel Ogah said that Capt Labinjo knows the rules of the game and should not have played into the hands of the Navy.

He said he was not aware of the offences for which the NISA president was arrested.

Capt Abel is a retired naval officer like Capt Labinjo. He is also currently still working with the Western Naval command as a trainer.

Speaking in reaction to questions from our correspondent, he said “They use to say that those who live in glass house should not throw stones, you must recognize that you are in a glass house, if you begin to throw stones and you break your glass, it means you have exposed yourself to danger and bad weather”

“So there are rules and regulations for you living in a glass house

“

By the level of knowledge of Capt Labinjo, we expect that he should play by the rules, there is nobody that is above the law. For me as an individual, I don’t know why he is being picked, we just heard that he has been there for eight months now”

Labinjo and the other detainees, who are mostly civilians, were dumped in a military detention facility at Apapa in Lagos.

In order to legalise the arrest and detention of the detainees, the naval authorities reportedly obtained a remand warrant from a Magistrate Court sitting at Apapa.

But as the detainees who were incarcerated for over three months were not charged with any criminal offence the magistrate court reviewed their case on January 7, 2019 and ordered the naval authorities to release them from illegal custody forthwith.

However they are yet to be released.

Meanwhile, Mr Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) and a human rights activist, has reportedly written President Muhammadu Buhari over matter and demanded for the release of all the detainees, including Captain Labinjo.