They also impounded a fibre boat used by suspects in smuggling the parboiled rice.
The Commanding Officer, FOB, Navy Capt. Uche Aneke, disclosed this while handing over the suspects and the items to the Nigerian Customs Service in Ibaka on Monday.
Aneke said the suspects were arrested on January 4, 2024, around 8.30am after credible intelligence indicated that a boat was conveying some foreign parboiled rice suspected to have been smuggled from Cameroon.
Aneke said, “Consequently, the gunboats from the Base on routine patrols, through a stop-and-search operation, were able to intercept two suspected smugglers in a fibre boat that contained 38 bags of 50kg contraband foreign parboiled rice concealed under nine drums of 250 litres empty drums covered with a canopy.”
Aneke pledged that FOB Ibaka under the Eastern Naval Command Area of responsibility would continue to detect criminals with advanced surveillance equipment, apprehend and ensure their arrest and prosecution.
He warned individuals or groups interested in smuggling illegal consignment into or out of Nigeria, or planning to carry out any form of criminality in Nigeria’s territorial waters to desist forthwith, adding that Nigerian waters and the Nigerian coastal areas are not for illegal activities.
Receiving the two suspects, along with seized items, Superintendent of Customs, Bolaji Ajao, said that the team would take the suspects for further investigation and prosecution.
He thanked the Nigerian Navy for their cooperation and support to the Nigerian Customs Service in combating smuggling in the country.
“Nigeria Navy has always supported us, we will continue to appreciate them and support each other and work together”, Ajao said.
