The Nigerian Navy has arrested a fake Commodore and nine others, including a woman, for allegedly operating an illegal merchant navy academy at Iperu, Remo, Ogun State.
The Commodore, Aderemu Latinwo and other suspects, who were adorned in Nigerian Navy uniform, were said to be giving unsuspecting Nigerian youths military training, including the use of fire arms.
Other suspects were mostly the lecturers of the school, which the Navy claimed had been in operation for years; and had many graduates to show for it.
The Flag Officer Commanding , Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogbor, accused Aderemi Latinwo who is the proprietor of the school, of parading himself as a Commodore in the school adding that Latinwo, had never been in the Nigerian Navy and was never a retired naval officer.
Ogbor said that the academy, The Nigerian Merchant Navy Academy, is not an approved institution. He added that the only institution that trains merchant navy in the country is Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Transport.
He stated that the academy did not have any legal backing to operate and that it was neither registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission nor approved by the Ministry of Transport.
Ogbor said, “This so-called school has been recruiting jobless Nigerians with futile mouth-watering promises of securing jobs for them.
“The naive trainees are also made to believe that they are guaranteed the sole responsibility of securing petroleum pipelines across the country.
“This group often deceives would-be recruits that it has affiliation with Nigerian Navy and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, as their uniforms resemble naval uniforms and accoutrements.”
Ogbor asserted that Latinwo’s impersonation, especially his mode of dressing, which was similar to the naval uniform, was causing a big embarrassment to the Nigerian Navy.
“The nefarious activities of these so-called seafarers, if not nipped in the bud, would continue to constitute serious security problems in the country. Once the products of this training programme cannot secure jobs, they might become ready tools to be used as thugs, armed robbers, assassins and possibly, militants.”
But Latinwo denied the allegation, saying that the school was registered by the CAC. He said he studied in England and had about 40 years of experience at sea and as a master mariner. He said the uniforms were what is generally used by mariners and not naval uniform.
He stated that the uniforms could be differentiated from that of the navy by looking closely at the diamond on their insignia, which represents blue sea.
Latinwo said that his school, being a privately run outfit, did not need any supervision from Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, or the Ministry of Transport, but was run as any other schools in the country.
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