The Joint Military Task Force on Monday morning raided an illegal merchant school situated in Idah, Kogi State and sealed it off.
Over 500 illegal students were at the school at the time of the raid.
Leading the operation which consist of the Navy, Army, DSS, Police and Nigeria Civil Defense Corps, Naval Commander NNS Lugard Lokoja, Commodore Shuwa Abdulraham-Mohammed, said the training school was operating illegally.
He insisted that the place was used for training an armed group established to disturb peace and the stability of the nation.
Mr Abdulraham-Mohammed noted that in the whole of Nigeria there was only one Nigeria Navy Sea Fairer School located in Orom, Cross River State, saying that any other one operating apart was illegal.
“The institution is illegal and it has been pronounce by the Federal government and by NIMASA. The only place for training Merchant Navy is the Maritime Academy Nigerian in Oron.
“As you heard earlier somebody was deceived to come here for training that they could join the Navy after being trained here. They were deceived by ex-military personnel looking for job diceived these innocent Nigerians to come hre for training. They are paying up to 205,000 Naira each,” he said.
Both the student and their instructors were all rounded-up by security agents who arrived at the illegal training school in the morning.
The conditions in the illegal training ground, with uncompleted dilapidated buildings, training materials, crudely fashioned wooden gun, fall short of what was obtainable in a Navy merchant institution.
The training camp looks more or less like a slum.
Answering questions from Channels Television, one of the officer in the training school, who identify himself as Stanley Udike, said the school was recognised by the government. “The passage of the bill for the final approval of the school was in the second reading at the National Assembly,” he said.
Edeke said he was the RSM in charge of training and discipline. He claimed that the uniform of the school was approved by the Federal Ministry of Commerce.
He named one Commodore Idime as the proprietor and the Director General of the school, explaining that in their last recruitment exercise, candidates were recommended by members of the National Assembly and top government functionaries.
The raising rate of employment in Nigeria has been attribute to several desperate actions.
The Nigerian government has emphasised its commitment to creating a conducive environment for investors to thrive in order to create needed jobs and reduce the level of unemployment.
