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Four men found on cargo ship in Thames Estuary charged with affray after crew 'threatened with iron bars'

Group to appear in court on Monday

Eleanor Busby
Sunday 23 December 2018 17:07 GMT
The Grande Tema, a 71,000-tonne ship is operated by Grimaldi Lines.
The Grande Tema, a 71,000-tonne ship is operated by Grimaldi Lines.

Four men found on a cargo ship in the Thames Estuary have been charged with affray after the crew were allegedly threatened with iron bars.

Police officers boarded the Grande Tema cargo ship, which had completed most its journey from Lagos in Nigeria to Tilbury in Essex, amid reports of stowaways threatening the crew.

The crew of the 71,000-tonne Grimaldi Lines vessel were forced to lock themselves in the bridge following the alleged altercation, according to Paul Kyprianou, a spokesman for Grimaldi Lines.

An Essex Police spokesman said on Sunday that four men had been charged with affray in connection with the incident on board the vessel.

The ship’s owner said the alleged stowaways had been discovered on board four days ago. The group was placed under surveillance in a cabin but escaped on Friday before threatening the crew.

Mr Kyprianou told Sky News the stowaways had “managed to get some pieces of iron tubes and things like that that they were using in order to threaten".

“It’s a small group but obviously you can understand it would be scary," he said.

"The problem is the four people free on the deck threatening members and requesting them to get closer.”

He said the master had contacted Essex Police at around 9.15am on Friday over concerns about the safety of the crew on board the vessel.

Samuel Jolumi, 26, Ishola Sunday, 27, Toheeb Popoola, 26, and Joberto McGee, 20, all of no fixed address, were detained after police boarded the ship and secured the vessel on Friday.

No one was injured in the incident and Essex Police said the situation was not being treated as a hostage, piracy or terror-related issue.

The men were all due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.

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