A former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Temisan Omatseye, has advised NIMASA to collaborate with the intelligence units of security agencies, and prioritise intelligence gathering to combat frequent attacks on ships at anchorage.
He said this in response to the growing concern of maritime stakeholders, over the bold and gruesome attacks on vessels by criminals, especially when they have berthed and anchored on Nigerian waters.
Omatseye said: “Usually, whenever there are attacks on ships at anchorages, most times, those attacks are from criminals in communities around those anchorages. And one of the ways to tackle and win them once and for all is for a collaboration to take place between NIMASA, and intelligence units of the Department of State Security, the Navy and the Nigerian Army.
“Whatever intelligence these security agencies gather would now be submitted to NIMASA which would definitely inform their decision on that challenge. The intelligence would enhance an absolute victory over the criminals,” he added.
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Omatseye also advised NIMASA to engage whistleblowers around the communities where ships are anchored. He urged NIMASA to pay said, “trusted dwellers” who would divulge reliable information about criminals and criminal hideouts in their communities. He said “These would serve as whistleblowers to also aid intelligence gathering. Without a doubt, some of these dwellers know who the criminals are. Hence, they would aid successful security operations of the collaborated security agencies,” he added.
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