NAVAL DETENTION: Ship Owners Raise Alarm Over Labinjo,Wife Thirteen Others Whereabout

Roland Ekama, Lagos

 

The Nigeria Ship Owners Association (NISA) has raised the alarm over the whereabout of its President, Captain Dada Labinjo, his wife and thirteen others arrested by the Nigerian Navy since September, 2018.

 

Apparently  worried to seek the current location of the ship owners boss , members of the association have decried the scanty information made available to them by operatives of the navy.

 

Speaking with DAILYFOCUS NEWS ONLINE in his office on the development, Lagos state coordinator of NISA, Captain Franklin Akinpelumi said all efforts to find out the whereabouts of the fifteen persons have yielded no result.

 

Akinpelumi said that the case could be as a result of a running battle that  Captain Labinjo had with the Navy, a notion which he said that the Navy had dismissed in a report.

 

But in a view to seek the current location of the ship owners boss, members of the association have decried the scanty information made available to them by operatives of the Navy.

 

The Lagos Coordinator of NISA queried the continued detention of the NISA President and others without assess to their families and associates ,  saying it is a violation of human right.

 

Akinpelumi said due process ought to be conducted despite the allegations levelled against their president , adding that the highhandedness of the Naval authorities most be questioned.

 

He alleged that Labinjo arrest and detention has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning .

 

Akinpelumi expressed worries over the age limit of his president and that of the wife,saying ” these people are well above sixty and they need  the basic necessity of life.

 

He added saying ,”We have made several attempts to visit him in some of the Naval base but they won’t allow us access to see him.

 

“According to them, they cannot allow access to Labinjo because its an order from above.

 

He also alleged that the only information gathered about their leader is that the fact that he is in Abuja naval facility, adding that NISA has explore other means to get the current location of Labinjo.

 

According to the coordinator, “NISA  will not support anybody that is found wanting against the law” but maintained that indefinite detention of the President and others is against the law of the country.

 

“We actually look at the reasons why the detention has dragged for so long . We have been to Abuja to ask top naval officers what the problems were but the information we got was so scanty and it is that bad.