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Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria Charges Russian Sailors over Arms Transport
2013-02-20
[An Nahar] Nigeria on Tuesday charged 15 Russian sailors nabbed
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
since October with illegally bringing weapons into the west African nation that is awash with black-market fire arms.

The crew of the MV Myre Seadiver were temporarily denied bail by Lagos High Court Judge Okechukwu Okeke, with a final ruling on the bail application set for February 25.

The ship was seized on October 19 off the coast of Lagos by a naval patrol which also detained its 15 crew members.

Weapons found on the vessel included 14 AK-47 rifles with 3,643 rounds of ammunition as well as 22 Benelli MR1 rifles with 4,955 rounds of ammunition.

The intended destination or planned use of the arms was not clear.

In December, Russia's foreign ministry said it had reached a deal to secure the release of the sailors, explaining that Nigeria had agreed to drop the case to preserve cordial relations between the two nations.

That pact, if it ever existed, appears to have been sidelined.
Posted by:Fred

#2  there's a LOT going on behind the scenes that's not reported in this story. Don't take it at face value. Suffice it to say ... there's nothing fair in war, love, or the Oil Business. Hahahahaha!!!
Posted by: Raider   2013-02-20 16:31  

#1  From what I can glean from open-source, the Seadiver was an 'arsenal ship'; a floating armory for the oil fields that it worked in. Its last op-area was over in the Indian Ocean region. It was seized while in transit.

Apparently somebody either refused to pay off the West Africans, or was slow in paying them.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-02-20 10:36  

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