From AIDOGHIE PAULINUS and OLIVIA KALU, Abuja
Sixteen Pakistanis and a Greek national are currently stranded at the Nigerian waterways within the Atlantic Ocean, Lagos, Daily Sun can report.
The stranded expatriates are holed up in an MT Valoi vessel registered in Panama which conveyed crude oil to the Lagos waterways from Pakistan.
The vessel, which is currently in the custody of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Daily Sun gathered, had been held for the past six months.
Daily Sun also gathered that due to their long stay in the vessel, the expatriates are currently suffering from various skin diseases, food shortage and have not been paid six months salary by the Greek owner, Vingelis Bouliers, a businessman.
The offence, we further gathered, is the inability of the owner of the vessel to pay several taxes to the Nigerian government.
A source told Daily Sun that the owner of the vessel has to be prevailed upon to pay the taxes to the Nigerian government in order to save the health of the expatriates from further deterioration.