The suspects were said to have offered the operatives of the JTF the sum of $66,500, to create safe passage for them to siphon crude oil into their barges from a Shell Petroleum Development Company pipeline along the Chanomi creek in Delta State. But the offer was rejected.
The two Britons identified are Messrs Piers Eastwood and Vincent Haywood attached to a United Kingdom based maritime security firm with regional branch in Lagos, according to the JTF, were to provide security/consultancy to MT Crete, a vessel believed to have positioned at Brass open waters for supposed illegal bunkering.
Trouble, it was learnt, started for the suspects when on March 17, a representative of a firm (name withheld) approached the JTF Headquarters, with an approval letter from the Nigerian Navy Ship Delta and an authorization from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC through the Naval Headquarters.
The approval was to evacuate products from an arrested vessel under the custody of the NN at NNS DELTA between 12 March -14 April 2014.
The Joint Task Force approval was reportedly issued and immediately, the headquarters directed Sector 1 of the special security outfit to monitor their activities in the waterways.
Speaking to newsmen yesterday at the headquarters of the JTF in Yenagoa where the suspects were paraded, the commander of the outfit, Major General Emmanuel Atewe who was represented by the Media Coordinator, JMCC Col Onyema Nwachukwu said they were arrested by operatives of the task force as part of ongoing effort to combat the menace of crude oil theft and other sundry crimes in the region.
Source: Vanguard
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