Task force shuts illegal naval training school in Kogi
The joint military task force has sealed off an illegal Naval seafarer training school located at Idah in Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State. Addressing journalists yesterday after the operation, leader of the task force comprising the Navy, Army, SSS, police and Civil Defence Corps, Commander, NNS Lugard, Lokoja, Commodore Mohammed Shiwa, said the training school was shut down because it was operating illegally.
He said only the Nigerian Navy Seafarer Training School located in Oron, Cross River State, is recognized in the country, adding that any other seafarer institution is illegal.
Shiwa, who noted that the school in Idah charges about N30,000 for forms while N265,000 is being charged as tuition fees, said the institution is cashing in on the unemployment rate in the country to extort money from innocent Nigerians who are desirous of jobs.
“During the raid, various military hard wares and documents were recovered alongside a pump action gun and hundreds of cartridges while about 5000 students are said to have so far enrolled in the school which commenced operation last year,” he said.
Shiwa said they were in the school on the instructions of Chief of Naval Staff and the governor of Kogi State, adding that those behind the establishment of the school will be handed over to the police for prosecution while the students trainees would be released to go back to their various states.