/ 21 September 2000

NIGERIA TO SELL ONLY TRAINING VESSEL

THE Nigerian government has agreed to sell the country’s only naval training vessel, the MV Trainer, which has fallen into disrepair, Information Minister Jerry Gana said. The government decision follows the recommendation of a committee set up by ministry of transport, he said. The naval ship was originally sold off in 1979 for $785000 to a private owner and then bought back by the last military government in 1998 for $4.5m. Officials involved with the re-purchase and running of the vessel are currently under investigation, Gana said. – AFP