2-year-old seaman, Lucky Nyeke, attached to the Naval Special Boat Services Camp, Ojo, Lagos State, has been dismissed after a nine-month detention at the Nigerian Navy, Quorra, in the Apapa area.
PUNCH Metro had reported on January 1, 2016, that Nyeke was languishing in the NNS Quorra prison three months after his term had ended.
Nyeke, who hails from Ahoada-West Local Government Area of Rivers State, had been locked up in the cell on March 31, 2015, after he was tried by court-martial for alleged possession of ammunition and sentenced to six months in detention, which expired on September 30, 2015.
Our correspondent had reported that Nyeke’s legal counsel, Mr. Idowu Agboola, wrote a petition to the naval authorities over the illegal detention of his client after finishing his term.
PUNCH Metro learnt that after the publication in The PUNCH, the naval authorities on Tuesday, January 5, transferred Nyeke from the NNS Quorra detention quarters to the Kirikiri Prison, where he spent a night.
It was gathered that on Wednesday, the naval authorities at about 11am came to the Kirikiri Prison, told Nyeke to wear his uniform, took his photographs and notified him that he had been dismissed from the navy. He was thereafter released to go home.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Nyeke, who noted that he did not know the reason for his dismissal, said the naval authorities ought to compensate him for the three months additional term he served in the prison.
He said, “I was told that a report came out in the newspaper about my detention. On that Tuesday, January 5, around 8am, I just saw officers from naval SPS camp, where I was attached, at the detention quarters. They escorted me to the Kirikiri Prison.
“I slept in Kirikiri Prison till Wednesday. Around 11am on Wednesday, they came back and told me that I had been dismissed from the navy. No reason was given for the action.”
Nyeke, who said he joined the navy on August 16, 2000, as an ordinary seaman, rising to the rank of a leading seaman in August 2012, added, “I want the military to pay damages. I was in detention for about ten months instead of six. I don’t think it is a fair treatment.
“The charge used against me in court was possession of firearms, but Section 237 of our Act says you cannot charge a military man for possession of firearms.”
The Director, Naval Information, Naval Headquarters, Abuja, Commodore Kabir Aliyu, confirmed Nyeke’s dismissal. He added that the seaman was dismissed because his offence was “grievous”.
He said, “You are aware that he was court-martialled and he was charged on two counts. The first was stealing and the second was illegal possession of firearms suspected to have been stolen. The first charge was dismissed, but he was found guilty of the second. That was why six months imprisonment was given to him.
“That sentence was presented by the convening authorities to the headquarters, which was confirmed by the naval authorities. So, the seaman was stripped of his uniform on January 6, 2016, and formally taken to the Kirikiri Prison for further necessary action.
“He was dismissed from the services of the Nigerian Navy because of the grievous nature of the offences he committed. He was taken to the prison so that it would be in their records that he served the term. It was for documentation.”
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