By Metohuey Michael Adoglo
In Nigeria the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for some time have seized ships belonging to corrupt persons, many of these vessels –either temporarily or permanently forfeited by suspected corrupt persons are being damaged due to lack of maintenance and have begun to sink in waters across the country.
It has since been revealed to the local press that the Nigerian Navy, which was mandated to oversee the seized, recovered or forfeited assets, had no budgetary provision to maintain them, leaving them damaged and submerged eventually.
According to the lawmakers, the majority of these seized vessels are in Lagos State and they are the worst hit by the abandonment.
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loots Movable and Immovable Assets from 2002 to 2020 by Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Effective, Efficient Management and Utilization had recently embarked on oversight visits to the locations of such assets for an on-the-sight assessment.
Some Lawmakers in the country believe the problem lies with the wide gap between forfeiture and sale (auction). With Most of the ships and vessels being forfeited over five years ago, holding perishable goods, its values are in a constants state depreciation.
The opinion of the author don’t necessarily reflect those of Africanian News.