From Ben Dunno, Warri
Troops of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) under the 63 Brigade of the Nigerian Army have handed over 12 crew members arrested on board the stolen oil vessel, MT Tura II, to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Delta State Command, for profiling and prosecution.
It would be recalled that the suspects, eleven (11) Nigerians and a Ghanaian, were led on the operation by a Nigerian Captain who identified himself as Odubiyi Samson, when it was impounded on Friday, July 7, 2023.
The vessel alongside the crew members was intercepted along the coast of Escravos (Border area of Delta and Ondo state) by combined security forces of the Army, Tantita Surveillance Security team and operatives of NSCDC while siphoning crude directly from a wellhead point on the sea.
Although the Captain of MT Tura II, Odubiyi Samson, during an interview with newsmen when paraded with others, had claimed ignorance of the mission to steal crude oil at the point of its arrest, stating it was his first voyage since joining the shipping company last year.
The handling of the suspects by the operatives of Delta Safe, under 63 Brigade of the Nigerian Army to the officials of NSCDC Delta State Command, at the weekend was part of the laid procedures that usually follow such an arrest to allow for the profiling of the suspects and their possible prosecution.
The arrested vessel had since been destroyed in a joint military operation at Bennett Island, a safe wreckage site along the creek of Warri South Local Government area of Delta State.