ABUJA: Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Western Marine Command (WMC) has arrested five persons suspected to engage in oil theft on Nigerian waters.
The suspects from Benin Republic were said to be speeding on the high seas offshore of Lagos when they were accosted by armed Naval personnel and Customs, WMC operatives.
The Customs Area Controller, WMC, Yusuf Umar while parading the suspects before journalists in Lagos yesterday, said the arrest of the aliens who were in Nigeria without valid travel documents or means of identification was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the command and personnel of the Nigerian Navy.
He also revealed that the command impounded 233 bags of 50kg rice and two boats used to smuggle the staple food.
