THE efforts of the Federal Government towards making the high seas safe from the onslaught of sea pirates yielded result recently with the arrest of a suspected leader of vessel hijackers, Nubers Blessing, by the Task Force team recently constituted by the Nigerian Maritime And Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA).
Nubers Blessing, an Ijaw from Akpata Community, Ondo State, made shocking revelations about the gang’s activities, just as he said that he used to make millions of naira from every operation led by him on the high seas.
Blessing also boasted that he was second to none in terms of hitting target on the waters, thus describing himself as the commander of all hijackers in Nigeria.
Blessing stated that, “there is nothing to hide about it again. I am their commander. Even Wazobia who was first arrested is my boy. I have lost count of the number of vessels we have hijacked.”
The suspect said that the last operation by his gang was the hijacking of a vessel named MT ENERGY CENTURION which he said they attacked along Lome waters. He revealed that he made about N10m from the operation.
Blessing, during his confession, said that the operation was sponsored by powerful people. “These people are even in government. There is a lot of money in oil theft business,” he added.
Blessing further revealed that there were about 1,250 trained pirates across Nigeria, just as he boasted of having about 3,000 high calibre military weapons of various degrees kept in different parts of the country.
He stated that the modus operandi of his syndicate involved a network which worked closely with him by furnishing his group with necessary information regarding the vessel to hijack.
Blessing alleged that some officials of NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum and security agencies fed them with relevant information on vessels to hijack. He added that his gang would start work after part-payment had been paid, with the balance paid after the operation.
“Once we complete the assignment, we inform the pointsmen who would also contact another team from the cabal which takes charge of the hijacked vessel and offloads the oil which is deposited in the various oil facilities for distribution by the oil marketers and merchants.
“We do not engage in the sale of the products once we complete our own assignment but we also assist at times to monitor through arms support,” he said.
He likened their operations to war, saying that there was no successful hijacking operation that took place in Africa without the knowledge of his gang, just as he confessed that their victims were also killed during such operations.
According to him, the code name for their operation was COJA, revealing further that his gang was planning another attack on a vessel in Cotonou before his arrest in a hotel in Lagos.
He alleged that one of the top players in the oil industry contacted his gang and gave them the job for an agreed sum of N16m.
Other members of the gang arrested were Sola Sama, also known as Michael Babalola or Pere John, and Captain Mike.
Blessing advised the Federal Government to look inward in its fight against oil theft. “Lagos State being a coastal city plays a major role as a place where we meet to discuss business. So, government must search its big men if it is serious in fighting the war,” he said.
Another arrested suspect, Sola Sama, also opened up on the escapades of the vessel hijacking gang. He said he had to beg before he was admitted into the gang.
The suspect said he took the decision when he got to know about the huge amount of money the gang members were making individually after each operation.
He said before he became a member, he used to look for prospective buyers of their stolen products. This role, according to him, did not fetch him enough money to take care of his responsibilities.
He recalled: “Whenever they shared money, they always gave me a little, so, one day, I went to them and begged that I wanted to join them. Then Ateke took me to Mr Blessing and the group accepted me.”
Sama revealed that his first operation with the gang took place on Benin Republic waters in January 2012. He added that he went with Blessing, Ateke and others he could not recall. He also said that he was given N2.7m after the hijack of MT ENERGY CENTURION some weeks ago. He said he bought a new car from the proceeds.
He also confirmed the code name of the sea piracy operation while he said that the captain of buyer vessel is referred to as Double Juliet. He stated further that it took his gang three days to reach the location of the vessel.
A reliable source informed Sunday Tribune that President Goodluck Jonathan had already shown interest in the on-going investigation of the detained suspected hijackers.
The source said the president had called for the file containing the list of the past cases which were not well handled, giving a deadline of Thursday this week.
The President was said to have insisted that appropriate punishment be meted out to those involved, irrespective of their status.
One of the security agencies fingered was said to be under the close watch of the Presidency over its alleged compromising role which had been frustrating the war against the pirates in the past.
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