The last may not have been heard about the furore generated by the explosions that rocked a vessel, M/T Tutuma, on the 20th of June, 2006 in Lagos.The incident was said to have led to the death of seven sailors on board while several others escaped with various degrees of injuries losing all their belongings and personal certificates on board.The names of the seven crew members who were said to have been incinerated and burnt beyond recognition due to the explosion are given as; Ighofose Ughevero Moses, Second Engineer on board; Offe Kwabena Wilson, Electrician on board; Friday Udoh, Welder/Oiler on board; Idiodemise Joseph, Oiler on board; Olabimitan Olajide, Oiler on board, Abdulkareem Ismail, Able Seaman and John Edareno, Able Seaman.At the moment, the family members of the deceased and other crew members who survived the incident are accusing the owners of the vessel of abandoning them in their travails.Speaking through their lawyer, Iyke Ukadike, at a press conference in Lagos, the bereaved families alleged that apart from only two of the deceased, the rest were never buried or accorded any decent rite of passage and that no compensation was paid to them since 2006 till date.It was further alleged that all entreaties made to the owners of the vessel by the victims' families and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria to compensate the families adequately and ensure that the dead were buried proved abortive.According to the lawyer, owing to the nonchalant attitude of the owners of the vessel to his clients' conditions, an 'admiralty action in Rem' was filed on the 15th of November, 2006 before Justice Ibrahim Auta of a Federal High Court.In the action, the plaintiffs, 21 in number, consisting mainly of the families of the deceased and the survivors of the incident are claiming the sum of N527,788,000.00 as general damages against the defendants(M/T Tutuma and owners of the M/T Tutuma).The plaintiffs in their statement of claims averred that the incident was caused by defects in the ageing equipment/apparel of the vessel and general unseaworthy state of the vessel.They stated that when the vessel was acquired, it was not originally meant for conveying highly inflammable product like PMS because of the fittings on the vessel but the owners of the vessel converted it to a PMS carrying vessel.The plaintiffs further alleged that the defendants had completely and up till date abandoned the corpses of five of the victims on board the ship and made no effort to retrieve them.It was also alleged that the incident was occasioned by the defendants' refusal to heed all expert advice on the best and safest mode of evacuating the PMS that leaked into the engine room and proceeded to connect a shore light to the already volatile vessel to the detriment of the deceased crew and others on board.However, the defendants in their statement of defence denied responsibility for the explosion saying the unavoidable accident was neither caused by any defect in the vessel nor any dangerous connection of shore power.The defendants further denied that none of the corpses was still trapped in the vessel and that the Marine Department of the Nigeria Police had removed the remains of the deceased to the Lagos State General Hospital Mortuary immediately after the fire.It was stated further that through the efforts of the vessel owners, the corpses were located and those who could be recognised were handed over to their families with substantial payment by the vessel owners for their befitting burials.The defendants stated further that moves to settle the dispute amicably failed because the agents and relations of the deceased seamen were making unreasonable high monetary claims based on wrong accusations against them.However, in a twist of event, the bereaved families have initiated contempt proceedings against a Senior Officer of Obat Oil and Petroleum Ltd, Prince Akinfemiwa Akinruntan, and one, Mrs Igbokwe of Fix Bolingo International Nig. Ltd, for selling and buying the M/T Tutuma and cutting and scrapping her into bits while same was under arrest and detention by virtue of an order of arrest made by Justice Ibrahim Auta on the 16th of November, 2006.The families alleged that on the 3rd of May, 2011, the owners of the vessel who were the defendants in court, through, Prince Akinfemiwa Akinruntan unlawfully sold the M/T Tutuma to the said Mrs Igbokwe at the cost of N20 million.They further alleged that the FirstBank draft with regards to the transaction was issued to the sellers in the name of Obat Oil and Petroleum Ltd but that the buyer was asked later to issue another one in the name of Fargo Oil and Gas Ltd to conceal the true nature of the transaction.It was further alleged that the vessel had already been handed over to the buyer who have been scrapping and cutting the vessel into bits at kirikiri and selling them.
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