The Nigerian Navy (NN) has expressed concern by the upsurge in cases of stowaways in Nigerian waters. This was contained in a statement signed Commodore A. Adams-Aliu, Director of Information which reads in part: “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 and dangerous and is considered a security threat to shipowners.
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 the table below: Serial Date Name of Vessel Number of Stowaways Location Remarks(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)1. August 2023 MSC MARTHA 5 Lagos Channel2.
September 2023 CHARMINAR PANAMA 8 Lagos Fairway Buoy 3. October 2023 GWANGZHOU HIGHWAY PANAMA11 Lagos Channel4. November 2023 NATAL 8 Lagos Fairway Buoy5. December 2023 CONTAINER VESSEL TEME4 Lagos Channel6. December 2023 GRANDE GUINEA 2 Lagos Fairway Buoy7.
December 2023 MT UOG CONSTANTINE 14 Lagos Channel8. January 2024 FRONT ALTIERS 3 Lagos Fairway Buoy9. February 2024 MT CHIP 4 Lagos Channel10. March 2024 MT ADVANTAGE LOVE 3 Lagos Channel11. March 2024 MT LYSIAS VALLETTA 9 Lagos Fairway Buoy12. April 2024 MT PRINCESS ERIN 4 Lagos Channel Total August 2023 – April 2024 75 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 misadventure, “it also added.
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