The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Maritime, Mr. Musa Katsina has solicited the support of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) on information gathering to curb issues bothering on insecurity that may arise in the maritime sector.
Speaking in his office yesterday, when members of the freight forwarding association paid a working visit on him, Katsina stated that the maritime police command has a general function as enshrined under section 4 of the Police Act.
He further advocated for a joint meeting between both institutions for information and intelligence sharing on ideas relating to happenings and events in the sector; including the creeks, rivers, sea, and the ocean.
He noted that the duty of the command is to deal with matters that may arise on maritime crimes which according to him include sea robbery, piracy, kidnapping, hostage taking and smuggling of food items and contraband on waters.
He noted that crimes cannot be nipped in the bud without strategic partners like the freight forwarding association , he pointed out that "having NAGAFF is not to play a political role as far as my own mission is concern, you are going to play strategically in the job of law and enforcement especially on areas relating to intelligence"
"It is not an issue of the police alone and once you are a stakeholder we will need that common platform for us to plan for intelligence gathering and physical action against crime and criminal element"
Katsina who is former commissioner of Police for Imo state pointed out that security and safety are key in the operations of the command on the nation 's territorial waters; even as he stressed further that with information sharing among stakeholders in the industry, issues surrounding smuggling, stowaways and other marine related crimes may not arise because the police would tackle the crime at the incubator stage before it blows out of proportion.
"NAGAFF is central and we will take you along because by your constitutional mandate there is this inter – connectivity which is interwoven between us and you but when it comes to crime control, all of us are one army moving into one direction" Katsina stated.
He further urged members of NAGAFF to be the third eye of the force, saying that corruption has not been eliminated completely from the ports system.
Speaking on behalf of NAGAFF, Chairman Board Of Trustees, Chief Chidiebere Enelamah expressed satisfaction on the AIG 's knowledge of the maritime sector despite his one month stay in office.
He said the reason for the visit was to understand operations of the maritime command arm of the force.
The BOT chairman further appealed to the AIG to pay a working visit to the national headquarters for a better understands on how the association operates.
Enelamah assured that the association will assist the maritime police on information sharing adding that communication is strategic to eliminate crime in the maritime sector.
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