Four Nigerian stowaways, who were
arrested in December last year, cut themselves and threatened to infect sailors
with their blood on a cargo ship they attempted to hijack in a bid to reach
Britain, a court heard on Thursday.
The Special Boat Service sailed
to the rescue on the Grande Tema ship in the Thames Estuary off the coast of
Essex as the drama unfolded on 21 December last year.
Samuel Jolumi, 27, Ishola Sunday,
28, Toheeb Popoola, 27, and Joberto McGee, 20, appeared at the Old Bailey
today.
All four were allegedly
attempting to flee Nigeria for the UK when they boarded the 78,000-tonne
Italian merchant ship.
They were discovered by captain
and crew after several days in hiding and placed into quarantine before
breaking free five days later.
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| Grande Tema container ship that brought the Nigerian stowaways to UK |
But the gang allegedly launched
an attack on the crew in which they flung urine and faeces and cut themselves
‘in a bid to infect the crew.’
The stowaways were also seen to
make ‘cut-throat’ gestures to crew members trapped on the bridge of the ship,
jurors heard.
They allegedly threatened to
break the glass and steer the ship to the UK, unless the captain did so before
6am.
Popoola can be seen in a second
clip charging at the window of the bridge while his friends roamed the upper
deck brandishing litre-bottles of their own urine.
Jolumi, 27, Sunday, 28, Popoola,
27, and McGee, 20, have denied attempting to hijack the ship, making threats to
kill, and affray.
Opening their Old Bailey trial,
prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said the defendants had hidden themselves aboard
the international merchant ship voyaging between West Africa and various
European ports including Tilbury in Essex.
The Italian flagged Grande Tema
weighs unladen some 78,000 tonnes, is 232 metres long, 32 metres wide and
approximately 38 metres above the water line.
The container vessel operated by
the Grimaldi Group is heavier than the UK’s largest aircraft carrier, and only
slightly shorter in length than the Houses of Parliament, Mr Badenoch said.
He told jurors: ‘As you will no
doubt be aware, migrants are leaving Africa and using all manner of different
routes across land and sea to reach Europe and of course the UK here in
Europe.’
He said the four defendants
stowed away on the lower deck of the Grande Tema in Lagos, Nigeria, for several
days of the voyage.
When the crew discovered them,
they were placed into quarantine, jurors heard.
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