Hunger, Frustration In Nigeria Why Four Stowaways Arrested On Dubai-Bound Ship Wanted To Escape

Four Stowaways; Ebi Agrive, Lucky Amusu, Goodness Edu and Micheal Daniel, who were arrested by the Nigerian Navy onboard a Dubai-bound ship have explained that the hunger and frustration in the country was responsible for their fleeing.

The suspects confessed that they attempted to exit the country because of the desperation and hardship they were facing.

“Hunger and frustration forced us to attempt to flee Nigeria,” one of the stowaways, speaking for the others, told newsmen in Lagos.

SaharaReporters had reported that the four were arrested onboard of a ship that was on its way to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by officers of the Nigerian Navy (NN).

The Nigerian Navy had said that its Ship, Beecroft patrol team on routine patrol intercepted a Container Vessel TEME Express en route Dubai and arrested four stowaways.

The navy made this known on Wednesday in a statement issued by its Base Information Officer, Sub-Lieutenant H. A. Collins, adding that the Commander NNS Beecroft, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, noted that tactical teams were dispatched to the vessel at Lagos Anchorage, sequel to receiving information from the Maritime Domain Awareness Facility, the Falcon Eye Alignment.

According to him, upon arrival, the teams noticed movements inside the rudder compartment, and consequently, the teams boarded the ship located and extracted the four stowaways.

“The stowaways were found with a bag filled with snacks and another polybag containing sachet water,” he stated.

The Stowaways were identified as 22-year-old Ebi Agrive from Bayelsa state; 23-year-old Lucky Amusu from Lagos state; 28-year-old Goodness Edu from Akwa Ibom state and 18-year-old Micheal Daniel from Ondo state.

“They were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in accordance with the established protocols.

“The Commander further stated that apart from the stowaways putting themselves in life threatening situations during the long voyage at sea especially as they remain in a confined space for extended duration, the stowaways also present a myriad of security threats to the crew with dire consequences on the image of the nation,” Collins added.