ISAN Alleges Foreign Participation in Oil Vessel Attacks

There are indications that the continual attack and highjack of petroleum tankers on Nigerian waters may not have been successful without some elements of collaboration by international players in the global oil and gas business.
Chairman of the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN); Chief Isaac Jolapamo made this revelation at a function in Lagos last week.
Jolapamo alleged that foreign oil companies have termed Nigeria as a 'war risk' zone so that they can charge war risk premiums before coming into Nigerian territorial waters.

There are indications that the continual attack and highjack of petroleum tankers on Nigerian waters may not have been successful without some elements of collaboration by international players in the global oil and gas business.
Chairman of the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN); Chief Isaac Jolapamo made this revelation at a function in Lagos last week.
Jolapamo alleged that foreign oil companies have termed Nigeria as a 'war risk' zone so that they can charge war risk premiums before coming into Nigerian territorial waters.
According to him, this is why the foreigners in collaboration with some elements in Nigeria have been conniving to sponsor some of the attacks that are witnessed on Nigerian waters.
"The attacks on vessels carrying petroleum products, the connivance is with the foreign people, these foreigners are the same people that have termed the country a war risk zone", he stressed.
"The issue of piracy is what we have created for ourselves, the fact that we do not take our own ship acquisition seriously, that is why other nations can say they want to term our area as a war risk zone, there is no war here and there is also no pirates here, it is because of the corruption in the nation".
Jolapamo said that the pirates and sea robbers terrorizing the country are well known to the authorities. According to him, there are thousands of checkpoints on the waters and these are the same places that the so called pirates pass through when they go out for operations.
"The only solution to our problems is that we should start acquiring our own vessels and carrying our own product, by going to Cotonou waters, Nigeria is just indicting itself" he said.
Speaking on why indigenous ship-owners are not being patronized in lifting of Nigeria's crude oil, the ISAN boss said that they cannot be patronized because the situation does not allow it.
"The situation whereby the people who are supposed to have the love of the country at heart will not do so, the development of the oil subsidy now has thrown a lot of question to people on why Nigerians are not patronized" he said.