Follow Us on Google
The Federal Government has released a Swiss vessel, MT San Padre Pio, to the government of Switzerland three years after it was seized by the Nigerian Navy.
The Navy arrested the vessel and its 16 Ukrainian nationals on January 23, 2018 for illegal entry and transport of gas oil into Nigeria’s waters without a permit.
An official in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Dr Francis Oni, handed over the vessel and cargo to the representatives of the Swiss government at a brief ceremony in Onne, Rivers State.
According to Oni, after the seizure of the vessel, its crew was charged to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt for trial, saying that MT San Padre Pio was caught transferring gas oil into another ship on Nigerian waters in the middle of the night without permission from relevant authorities.
Unfortunately, he said the Swiss government, probably not understanding how the system of Nigeria works, instituted a court action.
“The Swiss government sought the prescription of provisional measures at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany. Thereafter, the court made a provisional ruling requesting Switzerland to issue in favour of Nigeria, a bond of US $14 million.
