Headlines
Denmark drops charges against arrested pirates in Gulf of Guinea
Eyewitness reporter with Agency report
The Danish government has made a U-turn over the prosecution of the four suspected pirates arrested in the Gulf of Guinea in November 2021.
The lawyers of the suspected pirates detained on a Danish navy vessel since November after a shootout off Nigeria waters told reporters on Thursday that their clients will not face prosecution in Denmark over allegedly attacking Danish soldiers.
“The prosecutor has decided not to prosecute my client and he will be released shortly”, lawyer Niels Anker Rasmussen told AFP.
Two more lawyers representing the other two suspects told Danish media the case against their clients had also been dropped, and they too would be released.
The prosecution could have caused a legal headache as the Scandinavian country has to date never transferred piracy suspects to its territory and has no extradition agreement with the countries along the Gulf of Guinea coast.
Rasmussen said the decision not to prosecute was also likely over fears that, after any prosecution, his client “could not be sent back home due to Denmark’s obligations” under international conventions, and that “this might inspire others” to follow suit.
The three suspects were among the four presumed pirates of unknown nationality arrested in the Gulf of Guinea in late November after an exchange of fire with a Danish navy ship, the Esbern Snare.
The three, who will not be prosecuted, have been held on that ship, while a fourth who was injured in the shootout, has ever since been in hospital in Ghana where his gravely injured leg was amputated.
It was not immediately clear whether charges would also be dropped against the fourth suspect.
The incident occurred on November 24 when the crew of the Esbern Snare, which was patrolling international waters in the area, attempted to board a pirate vessel.
Danish prosecutors accused the pirates of firing the first shot and sought to press charges over them attacking Danish soldiers, accusations they have denied.
Four more suspected pirates were killed in the firefight and a fifth fell overboard, the Danish authorities said.
The Gulf of Guinea, which stretches 5,700 kilometers (3,500 miles) from Senegal to Angola, is a troubled area for shipping companies, with 195 attacks on ships recorded in 2020 alone.
Of the 135 hostage-takings at sea that year, 130 occurred in the region, the International Maritime Office has said.
Headlines
EFCC denies disobeying court order on Yahaya Bello
The Eyewitness Reporter
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has denied the widely held claim that it flouted a court order restraining it from arresting or harassing Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State.
In a Press Statement signed by the EFCC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the Commission clearly pointed out that though Bello sought refuge in a fundamental rights enforcement action through an order granted by Justice Isa Jamil Abdulallahi of the Kogi State High Court, the order did not vitiate or nullify an order made by the Federal High Court for the arrest of the former governor for the purpose of his arraignment.“The enrolled Order of the Kogi State High Court only granted an order to enforce Bello’s right to personal liberty and freedom of movement, it didn’t preclude the Federal High Court ‘to make any Order as it may deem just in the determination of the rights of the Applicant and the Respondent as may be submitted to her for consideration and determination”, he said.
He further stressed that “The Order made by the Federal High Court for the arrest of Mr. Yahaya Bello for the purpose of his arraignment is not in conflict with the Order of the Kogi State High Court.
“The case before the Federal High Court is a criminal charge which is different from the fundamental rights enforcement action that is the subject of an appeal”.
Uwujaren pointed out that the EFCC had a shining track record in the prosecution of politically exposed persons and would continue to exercise its mandate in the overall interest of the nation.
” He admonished Bello to turn himself in and answer to the charges preferred against him by the Commission.
He called on all patriotic Nigerians to lend their voices in support of the Commission stressing that ” the EFCC will not relent in its quest to wrestle corruption to the ground”
Economy
CBN sells $15.830m at N1.021 per dollar to 1,583 BDCs
Headlines
NPA commences rehabilitation of dilapidated infrastructure at Lagos ports with $700m loan from Citibank
-
Headlines2 months ago
Houthis attacks on Red Sea: Maersk hikes freight rate, imposes $1,000 container fee
-
Customs2 months ago
Customs commences disposal of seized rice at N10,000 per 25kg to needy Nigerians, beneficiaries must have valid NIN
-
Headlines4 weeks ago
Shippers’ Council in panic mode over implementation of Oronsaye report
-
Customs1 month ago
Customs mulls establishment of export terminal in Kano for enhancement of trading activities
-
Customs3 weeks ago
Amidst decline in cargo throughput, Customs garners N1.347 trillion revenue in three months
-
Headlines1 month ago
Pius Akutah orders mass dismissal of contract staff, casual workers at Shippers’ Council