Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Dr. Bashir Jamoh has said piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region is sustained by powerful foreign collaborators.
Jamoh spoke during a virtual meeting with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim. The meeting was after the arrest of some pirates by the Nigerian Navy, in partnership with NIMASA.
He bemoaned the adverse effect of foreign collaboration on Nigeria’s antipiracy effort.
Jamoh said: “The recent arrests of pirates have opened our eyes to a new and even more dangerous dimension to the issue of piracy and armed robbery in our waters, and that is the issue of foreign collaboration. The arrests involved Nigerians and other nationalities, whose identities I cannot disclose because the cases are under investigation.
“Piracy is taking an international dimension. We now know that pirates and other maritime criminals in our waters and the Gulf of Guinea operate with strong backing from powerful international collaborators.
“So we earnestly desire the cooperation of the international community, individual countries, organisations, and individuals to stem the ugly tide of insecurity in our waters. We will continue to do our best and update IMO as we make progress with our strategies.”
He appealed for support from the international community to complement the steps being taken by Nigeria.
IMO, the specialised shipping regulatory agency of the United Nations (UN), also delivered a glowing appraisal of Nigeria’s effort to stem piracy in its waters and the Gulf of Guinea, commending the country for sending a “strong and valuable message” to the global community. IMO also commended Jamoh for his brave and dynamic approach to maritime security.
In a letter addressed to Jamoh by Lim, he said the UN was impressed by Nigeria’s efforts “to address maritime security threats in the region,” adding that Jamoh’s “leadership and proactive response” to maritime security issues was laudable.
The letter reads: “I would also like to reiterate my congratulations to the Nigerian Navy on the successful capture and arrest of pirates from the fishing trawler Hailufeng 11, and more recently on the rescue of the crewmembers of the containership Tommi Ritscher. Those actions, together with all the other initiatives you highlighted in our meeting, including progress with the Deep Blue Project, send a strong and valuable message to the international community with respect to the considerable efforts your Government is making to curb piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Gulf of Guinea.”
The IMO Secretary-General reiterated the organisation’s readiness to assist NIMASA in the training of personal and technical assistance, and also declared his willingness to talk to other member countries to assist in that respect. He said IMO would help to deal with issue of synergy in laws regarding piracy with other neighbouring countries.
The Navy recently arrested a vessel, MFV Marine 707, which was engaged in illegal fishing in the country’s waters. Ten pirates who had on May 15 attacked and boarded a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire and directed it towards Nigerian waters, were also arrested by the Navy. The Navy had dispatched a ship to intercept the vessel after it got an alert.
The 10 pirates were handed over to NIMASA for prosecution, in the first trial of bandits arrested in international waters under the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act signed into law in June last year by President Muhammadu Buhari. The law made Nigeria the first in West and Central Africa to have a distinct antipiracy legislation.