Navy: Non-diligent prosecution has cost us many court cases

The Nigerian navy says it has lost numerous court cases on arrested vessels due to non-diligent prosecution.

Awwal Gambo, chief of naval staff, said this in an interview on Channels Television on Monday.

He said the navy does not have the constitutional power to prosecute maritime offenders, and as a result, had lost cases on arrested vessels.

“In the conduct of our statutory enforcement and maritime policy roles, the Nigerian navy arrests numerous criminals for committing infractions within our maritime domain. However, unlike other law enforcement agencies with prosecuting rights, we cannot prosecute offenders,” he said.

“To that effect, the Nigerian navy has lost many cases on arrested vessels due to non-diligent prosecution because we have the exhibits. And in keeping the exhibits, it costs us huge logistics requirements which are not budgeted for.

Gambo also said the Nigerian navy should be a beneficiary of part of the proceeds gotten from recovered maritime assets after sale.

“To that effect, we are in liaison with the office of the attorney-general of the federation, so that when such vessels or maritime offenders are prosecuted, the proceeds of sale of crime, the Nigerian navy should be beneficiary of part of it so that the resources you have used to make sure that those exhibits are safe, and subsequently handed over to the Nigerian government, so that we benefit from that seizure or sale so that it also enhances our operations,” he said.

“In addition, we find endless trial periods for maritime crimes which prolong the litigation, and several abandoned vessels are across the Nigerian navy bases. It costs money to maintain those assets because sometimes by some dint of accident, some of those maritime offenders may go free based on technicalities in court and then you may be required to present those exhibits, so you cannot afford to even lose a litre of crude that are ladened in those barge of containers which are under your custody.

“The office of the attorney-general of the federation is in sync with this and is making efforts to ensure that we are provisioned for to take care of these assets before final prosecution. And of course, we are working on how the Nigerian navy can be allowed to prosecute maritime offenders in court due to the obvious which of course is: we carry out the arrest and we know the exhibits.”

Recently, the Navy confirmed the arrest of MV HEROIC IDUN, a supertanker, by Equatorial Guinea forces over alleged crude oil theft in Nigeria.