The last may not have been heard of Captain Romeo Itima’s death. Police high command in Abuja, has vowed to crack the five years old case, and bring the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death to the open. According to a top Police source, “his demise is even more pronounced now than ever. First, we have stumbled on fresh incredible facts, capable of not only exposing the hitherto shrouded circumstances of his death, but also nail those found wanting, given the fact that his family was fed with a story that never took place,” said a senior officer attached to the homicide section of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID).

According to a Police source, “the kind of story his killers told the family is the type referred to in Nigerian parlance as ‘story for the gods.’ Policemen at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Bayelsa Police Command, uncovered fresh fact lately, they have gotten what could show the entire world that Itima’s alleged death story was nothing but a fabrication, a mere fabrication.”

Itima was the pioneer Managing Director and founder of Global West Vessels Specialists Limited, the company that won the controversial maritime security domain contract, from the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in 2010.

He allegedly died six months after the company took off, precisely on August 7, 2010. But having been fed with a different brief, his family issued a statement that made everyone to believe that he died during an operation against crude oil thieves in troubled Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Security agents and his family members were fed with story of how he was attacked by crude oil thieves and sea criminals, after he and other members of the crew had an encounter with sea robbers, somewhere within the Nigerian territorial waters.

“He did not die as we were made to believe by those that were with him at the time of the incident. I can tell you that he was killed. Some people who saw him as a threat in taking over the ownership of the company killed him and later told the Police a fabricated story. But we are re-opening the case and justice shall be done.”

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, in a telephone chat said, “for a highly skilled and passionate master mariner of an international repute, in the like of Romeo Itima, it is hard to believe that Capt. Itima got drowned, after he fell off the patrol boat and before divers could come to his rescue, he got drowned and died. This is the version of the story told at NIMASA then. They also sold that same dummy to us and at that time, everyone believed that story, but I took it with a pinch of salt, and made up my mind that one day, God sparing my life, and I am in the position to do something, I would look at that case again.”

Sources told our Correspondent that the case is being re-visited on the order of IGP Arase. The case has been moved from Bayelsa State Police Command to Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja. “We are not going to arrest anybody for now, we are still talking with all those that witnessed that whole episode including some fishermen, who witnessed the incident from a distance. The moment we gather all the possible evidence, we hope to charge all those indicted to court.”

The source also revealed that Itima’s death in the high sea, was never reported to the leadership of Nigeria Police anywhere in the country, by those that witnessed it but by members of his immediate family. “Before Police could start investigation, the family had issued a statement, claiming that his death was as a result of an accident, so we (Police) backed off.”

However, the truth untold was that Itima was eliminated in the heat of growing battle for the control of Global West Vessel Specialists Limited, a juicy company he founded and involved the likes of Government Ekpemupolo a.k.a Tompolo, to help him secure the Maritime security domain contract, he “miraculously” got from the Federal Government. “Tompolo, played a key role in getting the contract and was dreaming of becoming the Managing Director, but when he was allegedly rejected by the then management team at NIMASA, he was miffed.”

“During President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era, when Dr. Ade Dosumu was the head of NIMASA, Itima sold this idea of providing some adhoc security to the vessels and oil barges within the Nigerian waters to the government but it did not fly. Under Temi Omatseye as Director General, NIMASA, he marketed the same idea but it did not also succeed,” said a top official at NIMASA.

All this while there was no Tompolo, Akpobolokemi and Mr. Leke Oyewole, Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Maritime Affairs, who were later co-opted into the ownership of the company, by some powers that be at the Presidential villa then without the knowledge of even President Jonathan, said the senior Police officer at the FCID, Abuja.

The source added that before Itima’s death, Global West Vessels Specialists Limited, had ownership and control crises such that they held series of meetings with Oyewole in Lagos.

“How come immediately after his death, the real ownership emerged with changes in Article and Memorandum of Association as mandated by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Those changes were made one week after Itima had died. All the while that he was alive, they never agreed to any meeting called by Itima to sort things out. They kept telling him that he was not the substantive Managing Director of the company.”

To pacify the family though, and perhaps conceal the savagery, Itima’s brother was hurriedly appointed the Managing Director of the company. “This was amid protest by other members of the family, who would have preferred Itima’s son, a marine engineer to step into the father’s shoe. His shareholding in the company was also re-shaped and made to favour every other person, with Itima, coming last in the share-holding capacity,” said a police source.

Police said it has gone far with the fresh investigation. “We are working underground and would soon announce our breakthrough. I am very sure, it would be shocking, but it would go to show the length at which people could go, because of money. The company is now worth over $2 billion as at today, with just three people taking home over $1.2 billion,” said a Police source.

Itima was an American and British trained ship captain, who lived 70% of his life on water. An award winning ship captain, with track records that span over 35 years, Itima, graduated from the Royal Navy Maritime Academy, England, with a certificate in Maritime security and vessel management. He wanted to bring his wealth of experience to bear in his fatherland, but unfortunately that did not happen, as he allegedly died in high sea, near Bonny, within Nigerian territorial waters.