Fraudulent Shipping Agent Arrested As Navy Clears Its Personnel Of Misconduct

The Nigerian Navy has arrested and handed over a suspected fraudulent shipping agent, Mr Nsikak Sunday Ekpo, to the Nigeria Police Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Calabar for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The arrest followed a directive from Naval Headquarters after a complaint received through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleging that a sum of four hundred thousand naira was paid to Nigerian Navy personnel to provide security for Motor Vessel CHIMBA Express, a Cameroonian-registered vessel operating within the Calabar Channel.

The allegation was linked to an incident on 22 December 2025 when personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) VICTORY, NNS OSE and Forward Operating Base (FOB) IBAKA responded to a distress call involving a fire outbreak onboard the vessel. The swift and coordinated response of the Nigerian Navy led to the successful rescue of the vessel and its crew.

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Subsequently, claims emerged suggesting that naval personnel received payment for security services and abandoned the vessel without refund. However, a comprehensive investigation by the Nigerian Navy established that its personnel neither solicited nor received any payment, nor entered into any form of security arrangement with the vessel’s owners.

Investigations further revealed that Mr Nsikak Sunday Ekpo, an agent with PINAPAT Shipping Agency in Calabar, fraudulently collected the sum under false pretence, claiming it was meant for Nigerian Navy personnel involved in the rescue operation.

Fraudulent Shipping Agent

The Nigerian Navy reiterates its unwavering commitment to professionalism, integrity and accountability, and will continue to take decisive action against any individual or group attempting to tarnish its image or exploit its operations for personal gain.

The suspect has since been handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further necessary action.

IGP Disu Calls For Stronger Collaboration In Tackling Cybercrime In Nigeria, Across The Global Community

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has called for stronger collaboration in tackling cybercrime in Nigeria and across the global community.

This was revealed by the Director of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center, Akaninyene Ezima, while receiving members of the Joint Case Team on Cybercrime during a familiarization visit to the NPF-NCCC office in Abuja.

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The JCTC comprises representatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser, Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria Police Force, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit.

Speaking during the visit, the team leader, Jamila Akaaga Ade, expressed the group’s readiness to collaborate closely with the NPF-NCCC. She reaffirmed the team’s commitment to supporting efforts to combat cybercrime both locally and internationally.

Police

The Joint Case Team is mandated to investigate cybercrime cases across member agencies and leverage international legal frameworks to ensure the swift prosecution of offenders.

EFCC, UNODC, Canada Strategize Against Terrorist Financing, Illegal Mining

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede has disclosed the readiness of the EFCC to collaborate with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, UNODC, and the Canadian Government to scale up activities of the Commission against terrorism financing and illegal mining in Nigeria.

Olukoyede made this known on Friday, April 24, 2026, when the Canadian Senior Project Manager, Counter-terrorism and Anti-Crimes Capacity Building Programmes Division, Wilma Endamne, alongside the Project Coordinator, Counter-terrorism Unit of the UNODC, Tom Parker, came on a courtesy visit to him at the EFCC headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.

Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Commander of the EFCC, CE Michael Nzekwe, Olukoyede appreciated the support the EFCC has been receiving from the UNODC and the Canadian Government, noting that the EFCC has had a robust relationship over the years with the two foreign institutions. “I appreciate strongly the support that has been coming from UNODC and from the Canadian Government. Thank you,” he said.

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He disclosed that the EFCC was rennetless in the fight against terrorism financing and illegal mining and was delighted that the Commission has had a tremendous number of convictions in this regard.

“The EFCC has been doing a lot in the areas of terrorism financing and illegal mining. We have a good number of convictions regarding illegal mining across our zonal directorates. We have been on it and you have always provided capacity in several areas, so it will be encouraging for us to continue to build capacity in those two areas,” he said.

Olukoyede noted that criminal elements are operating with advanced technology, requiring the Commission to also up its own capacity in order to outpace them and get the desired outcomes. “At our level, a lot has been done in-house to see that there is training in those areas, especially as it relates to terrorism financing, illegal mining and other areas such as money laundering,” he said.

While emphasizing the need for enhanced capacity building, the EFCC boss stated that the EFCC was always open to opportunities for more capacity building.

“The Commission is open to collaboration. We are committed to see that the collaboration with UNODC gets better and stronger. Whatever it would take to dismantle every form and structure of terrorism financing, the Commission is into it,” he said.

Lending his voice to the position of the EFCC Chairman, Director of Investigation, Commander of the EFCC, CE Abdulkarim Chukkol, disclosed that the EFCC has in recent times heightened its efforts against illegal mining, leading to massive arrests and prosecution of the criminal elements involved.

“The Commission has scaled up its activities against illegal mining, leading to increased arrests and prosecutions. Not only that, we build capacity in that area. We are happy that organizations like the UNODC have opened their doors for us in that regard. We want everybody to be on board so that we can agree that we have a problem, and design a framework on how to overcome it,” he said.

Tom Parker, the project Coordinator, Counter-terrorism Unit of the UNODC, disclosed that the delegation was in the EFCC to seek collaborative ways against terrorism financing and illegal mining, adding that the UNODC is working with various stakeholders and have been able to create a technical working group.

“One of our major projects in the counter-terrorism space in the past year has been a project, funded by the Government of Canada. It focused on the connection between illicit mining, artisanal mining and terrorist financing.

EFCC

We are particularly focused on illicit financial flows, coming out of this particular economic activity. We are working with a whole range of people in that space, the Mining Marshals and the NFIU, and we have been able to create a technical working group to try and bring all the relevant parties together, including the revenue service and specifically anybody that has interest in this issue,” he said.

In her remark, Endamne, highlighted some areas for capacity building, which include equipment, software and policing.

“Through our programme, our federal police can extend some kind of capacity with the equipment needed,” she said.