The Nigerian Indigenous Shipowners Association (NISA) has called for establishment of more private security outfits to ensure proper security on the nation’s waters.
The Lagos state coordinator of NISA, Captain Taiwo Akinpelumi, made this appeal in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos, yesterday.
The appeal is coming few days after the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, said that it was illegal and against the Nigerian constitution for private armed guards to operate onboard merchant vessels in the name of offering security services.
But the NISA top man called for more political will to enable the two agencies, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety A bench (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy, who are saddled with the responsibility of protecting our waterways, to carry out their responsibilities diligently.
He maintained that if collaboration with private security will bring the desired result, then the government should key into that.
According to him, "the collaboration between NIMASA and Navy, if they are doing the right thing, there might not be any need for private security on the waterways. Getting private security outfit to come and man our waterways is normal. If they want to collaborate to bring the desired result, that is fine. It is just that the NIMASA and Navy have been collaborating but what comes out of it. It is just the political will to do what is right, if the Navy budget is low; they should go to the federal government to get enough money to police our waters. So that the covered area will be expansive"
Capt. Akinpelumi reiterated that the only way to maintain security on our waterways is for NIMASA and Navy to wake up to their responsibilities.
"There should be enough political will this time around to make the political will work why not. If they have seen the challenges on our waterways and they want to step up their games. The only alternative way to secure the waterways is for NIMASA to be alert and wake up to their responsibilities and also the Navy to also be alive to their core mandate which is securing our waterways", he argued.
He maintained that, the whole work of securing the waterways can't be left for NIMASA alone, adding that the mandate is between the two agencies.
"That is the way out of it, you can't leave the whole work of securing our waterways to NIMASA alone, it is explicit. NIMASA and Nigerian Navy are the ones that have the core mandate of securing our waterways. One is to secure our waterways while the other is to secure merchant shipping that is the way it is. You can’t get another security outfit to come and take that role it is not possible"
He reemphasized the need for private security saying that it does not intend to take over the work of the Navy or NIMASA.
“I don't support the idea of getting private secular outfit to come and secure our waterways. Let me explain to you for you to understand, when you talk of protection of lives and properties in Nigeria, whose responsibility is it, it is the Police. The Police has to take that responsibility but you still have other security outfit doing intelligence gathering, securing our walkways, banks; it is not like they have taken the work of the Nigerian Police. So it is not like the private security has taken the work of the Nigerian Navy; they are not arm-carrying guards, they are just there to watch and when they see anything, they will alert the police", he explained.
He advised that before a private security outfit will come on our waterways, they should be properly monitored and licensed by NIMASA following the International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) code.
"Bringing private security is not to come and take the work of the Nigerian Navy or NIMASA. For instance, if a ship wants to go somewhere and you don't want to engage the Navy, you can use the private security to escort the ship as far as the security outfit is licensed by NIMASA which is the ‘coast guard’ agency. They should also be monitored under the confines of the ISPS code; it has nothing to do with the establishment of another agency to play the role of the coast guard and the Nigerian Navy", he concluded.
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