ABOUT two days after the Nigerian Navy handed over the 15 Russian crewmembers arrested for illegal encroachment on nation’s territorial waters and possession of high calibre arms and ammunition to the Nigerian Police, the suspects are yet to know their fate on the matter.
The suspects, as at Thursday, were still in the Nigeria Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) cell. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit, Mr. Muazu Zubairu, told The Guardian that investigation was continuing on the matter.
“We have not taken the Russian suspects to court, they are still in our custody. We will take them to court as soon as we conclude our investigation,” he said.
The Federal Government had ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to carry out discrete investigation to ensure that the suspects were prosecuted. The 15-man crewmembers of MV Myre Seadiver were arrested in the Nigerian coast by the navy for illegal entry, non-declaration of cargo and possession of arms on board on October 19, 2012.
Shortly after taking over the suspects and the exhibit from the navy, Zubairu, who represented the IGP, had said that the agency would continue with the investigation from where the navy stopped.