The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, has explained that the Nigerian Navy lost many court cases on arrested vessels due to a number of factors predominately because it does not have the constitutional powers to prosecute maritime suspects.
Gambo, who spoke on Channels Television’s NewsNight aired on Monday, also said naval authorities are in talks with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) for the Federal Government to release part of the proceeds recovered from the sale of arrested vessels and maritime assets.
According to the naval chief, the Nigerian Navy should be a beneficiary of part of the proceeds of recovered maritime assets after sale. The funds, he noted, will go a long way to ensure exhibits are kept safe during litigations.
Gambo said, “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.
“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.
“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 enhance our operations.
“In addition, we find endless trial period for maritime crimes which prolongs the litigation and several abandoned vessels are across the Nigerian Navy bases. It cost 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.”