Iheanacho, ex-minister of interior, arrested

The Nations Maritime Administration and Safety Agency also known as NIMASA has arrested a former the big boss of Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, captain Emmanuel Iheanacho who was former minister of Interior over alleged stealing of petroleum products.
During investigation by the National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, some stolen petroleum products and a hijacked vessel were said to have been traced to the premises of his company, Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, in Apapa, Lagos.
The stolen products were alleged to have been hijacked from a vessel by some pirates who were arrested and quizzed last Tuesday at NIMASA Resource Centre, Kirikiri.
NIMASA also impounded a vessel, M.T Ejenavi, that was alleged to have been used to hijack the products before they were ferried and sold to ready buyers.
One of the alleged masterminds of the gang, Nicholas Okotie, was paraded before the press as the owner of the vessel.
Briefing newsmen yesterday, the Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, NIMASA, Barrister Callistus Nwabueze, said that the arrest of Iheanacho is not unconnected with the previous arrest of the suspected pirates, adding that NIMASA had made it clear that it was looking for kingpins behind the hijacks and oil theft going on on the nation’s waterways.
Nwabueze said that it was in the course of further investigations that the agency discovered that the stolen oil and the vessel that was recently hijacked off Cotonou were kept at integrated Oil and Gas premises.
He vowed that the agency will leave no stone unturned to unmask those behind vessel hijacks in Nigerian waterways, stressing that anybody found aiding and abetting the cartel will also be arrested and handed over to security agencies for prosecution.
The ex minister was still being interrogated by NIMASA Guard command. However, the guard command, Captain Promise Dappa, made it clear that the perpetrator involves some highly placed individual and that the chain is long which is believed to be international linked.
When contacted earlier before his arrest, Captain Iheanacho had told Saturday Sun that the entire development borders on a smear campaign by some people to destroy him and take over his business.
He said that he did not buy or sell any stolen product.
The former minister, however, noted that those that have issues with security agencies concerning stolen petroleum products only used his company’s facility for storage.
Last Tuesday, a joint operation by the managements of NIMASA and Global West Vessels Specialists (GWVS) had led to the interception of a vessel, M .T. Grace, laden with suspected stolen refined petroleum products.