No fewer than 11 stowaways have been apprehended by operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft, onboard a Guangzhou Highway Panama vessel heading to Ghana.
The stowaways who were paraded on Thursday, said they thought that the vessel was going to Europe and decided to follow it out of the country in search of greener pastures.
Lieutenant Commander Ayobami Tunde-Alli, while speaking to journalists on behalf of the Commander of NNS Beecroft, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, said the stowaways were arrested by the NNS Beecroft patrol team on Tuesday around 7pm.
Also, while handing them over to the Nigerian Immigration Service in Apapa on Thursday, Tunde-Alli said, “In a display of exceptional vigilance, the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft patrol team, while on routine patrol, successfully intercepted and apprehended some individuals on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, around 7pm at obscured spaces of the stern gate onboard Guangzhou Highway Panama, which was en route Ghana.
“Accordingly, Western Regional Control Centre was immediately informed and prompted the vessel to halt within Lagos anchorage.
“Initially, four stowaways were apprehended from the stern of the vessel. However, information provided by these individuals revealed the presence of additional stowaways inside the ship”, he said.
