WAR.WIRE
Court martial of Nigerian navy officers over Russian tanker to go ahead
 LAGOS (AFP) Nov 09, 2004
 A military panel here Tuesday overruled an attempt by defence lawyers to stop the court martial of three senior Nigerian navy officers over a missing Russian oil tanker, state-run NTA television reported.

The trial formally began last week Monday when the officers were charged with conspiracy in the disappearance of the tanker which was impounded by the military last year.

The accused, navy rear admirals Babatunde Kolawole, Francis Agbiti and Anthonio Bob-Manuel, have pleaded not guilty to the charges and their lawyers Tuesday tried in vain to stop their trial.

While one of the defence lawyers challenged the jurisdiction of the military panel, the other said that it would amount to double investigation and trial since the lower house of parliament was also investigating the matter.

"This may lead to a bedlam in the justice system," Wole Olanipekun, Agbiti's counsel told the seven-member panel.

Panel chairman Joseph Ajayi overruled these objections.

"I overrule the objections of the defence counsels and I will continue the case," he said.

The trial followed the recommendation of a board of inquiry which investigated the trio and other officers and found them triable for the offence.

The tanker, the MT African Pride, was seized in October last year by the Nigerian navy along with its crew of 13 Russian sailors.

The crew is on trial in a civil court accused of attempting to smuggle 11,300 tonnes of crude oil worth 345 million naira (2.6 million dollars, two million euros) out of Nigeria.

The vessel was brought to Lagos in January and placed in the custody of security agents, including the navy and police, pending the trial, but later disappeared.

The parliament committee investigating the case has described the mysterious disappearance of the ship as a national embarrassment.

Officials say Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, loses some 50,000 barrels per day of crude oil to thieves.

Every day, international smugglers carry off tens of thousands of barrels of crude -- siphoned from illegally tapped pipelines in the Niger Delta -- a trade which has financed an arms race among violent gangs in the oil-rich region.

Nigeria is the world's sixth biggest oil exporter, accounting for a daily output of around 2.5 million barrels.