ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Nigerian military has clarified that the ship hijacked by the alleged militants sympathetic to the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), are off Benin Republic territorial waters.
This clarification was made on Tuesday by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, who said that Benin Republic Navy are monitoring the situation.
Abubakar also cautioned that the media must take into account the national interest while reporting on the hijacked ship.
He said: “Issues of national interest has to be reported with caution as it is now; the ship in question is called MT LEON DIAS(9279927), a tanker.
“The ship is presently in Benin waters, about 7.5 nautical miles off Cotonou Port under the watch of the Benin Republic Navy,” he said.
The Defence spokesman also rubbished the report that the ship was hijacked by militants, saying that there is no more militants since Amnesty Programme have taken care of the situation.
According to him, what exists now are criminals who are rather masquerading as militants.
“There is no militants because the Amnesty Programme has taken care of our brothers. Therefore any body who engage or engaging in sabotage activities is act of criminality and the law of the land will take its course,” he said.
