General News of Monday, 19 January 2015
Source: Starrfmonline.com
A Maritime lawyer Dr. Kofi Mbiah is advising Ghanaian officials to repatriate the recently-arrested Nigerian pirates to their country for trial.
“It will be my view that they are repatriated back to Nigeria for them to be dealt with under the laws of Nigeria. Once you try them and then you put them in your prisons, remember that you are responsible for feeding them, for their upkeep and all that…” he told Starr News.
The eight pirates were arrested by the Ghana Navy for hijacking an oil vessel.
The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) is investigating the case.
Dr. Mbiah who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority warns there could be repercussions for Ghana if officials decide to put the arrested pirates on trial in Ghana.
“You know we can never tell, sometimes they belong to syndicates, they belong to groups etc., and if they do belong to groups and those groups sometimes have maybe terrorist associations, then you run a risk of those terrorist cells, maybe taking acts of vengeance.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces say their personnel are on high alert in the country’s territorial waters to avert the activities of such pirates.
The army’s director of public affairs, Lt. Col. Aggrey Quarshie called for collaboration among maritime agencies towards arresting such criminals.