The Nigerian Navy (NN) will today hand over a 15-man Russian crew of the arrested Merchant Vessel (MV) Myre Seadiver to the Nigeria Police for prosecution.

The vessel, which was intercepted on October 19 at the Lagos Roadstead, was said to have contained AK47 rifles with 3, 643 ammunition and 22 Benelli MR1 20 Barrel rifles with 4, 955 ammunition.

A statement from the Information Officer, Western Naval Command, Lt. Commander Jerry Omodara, said the handing over would be done at the harbour of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Beecroft, Apapa, Lagos.

He said: “The ship was arrested for illegal entry into Nigerian waters, non-declaration of cargo and carrying of arms.

“Part of our activities in the Lagos area is to ensure we create a conducive maritime atmosphere to promote legitimate maritime business. Anytime we see something that infringes on that mandate, we try to avert it.

“The vessel belongs to Moran Group, Moscow and hoisted a Dutch Island flag.

“We discovered that it came into our waters without notification and found it had weapons, which is an infringement on the laws of this country.”