The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Lagos State Command, paraded six Benin Republic nationals on Monday for allegedly smuggling petrol out of Nigeria to their country.
The agency identified the suspects as Timothy Fidinyin, 34; Josue Matho, 24; Joel Kunki, 27; Saliu Digbeyi, 23; Martins Jisu, 35; and Alex Wesu, 27.
During the parade, the Lagos State Commandant of the corps, Edenabu Eweka, said the men were transporting the oil in six large metal drums when they were intercepted by the intelligence unit of the corps.
He said, “We arrested six smugglers, all of them from Benin Republic. They were transporting petroleum products from Nigeria to their country.
“It is sad that some of the citizens of other countries have taken advantage of Nigeria’s good neighborliness to perpetrate crimes in the country.
“However, the long arm of the law will always catch up with them and we are using this medium to warn them to desist and take their activities far from the country. We will not tolerate any form of criminality in Nigeria. Nigeria is not a lawless state.”
The agency said it also seized 201 bags of a substance suspected to be cannabis, adding that nine suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure
The suspects were identified as Victor Muda, 30; Freeman Gasu, 25; Adotete Joseph, 31; Moses Sottie, 52; Christian Tette, 27; Kabu Okomipa, 25; Stephen Sottie, 26; Daniel Tokeykpfi, 35; and Kabu Natte, 36.
Eweka said, “Our marine unit yesterday (Sunday) arrested the suspected cannabis traffickers on the high sea in two boats. We have been monitoring their movement since and we saw that they were stranded because they ran out of fuel.
“It was an intelligence-driven arrest as we had cooperation from our counterparts in Ghana, which is the country of origin of the banned substance.
“It is of note that the Nigerian Navy also helped us in making the arrests and as we have no prosecution rights for drugs, we will hand the 201 bags and the suspects to the NDLEA.”