So far in 2012 alone, there have been about 14 piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, and about eight of them happened in Nigeria; and in one of such attacks, the captain and the chief engineer were killed.
And just as this editorial was being wrapped up, reports came in that another attack took place in Port Harcourt, leading to the kidnap of the captain and chief engineer. Their whereabouts were still unknown as at the time of this report.
So far in 2012 alone, there have been about 14 piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, and about eight of them happened in Nigeria; and in one of such attacks, the captain and the chief engineer were killed.
And just as this editorial was being wrapped up, reports came in that another attack took place in Port Harcourt, leading to the kidnap of the captain and chief engineer. Their whereabouts were still unknown as at the time of this report.
According to the Denmark-based maritime security intelligence company; Risk Intelligence, there were 58 recorded piracy-related maritime security incidents in the Nigerian shore and coastal waters in 2010. This is a remarkable reduction when compared with the 91 recorded incidents for 2009 and 114 incidents for 2008.
The group said that these figures presented only a disguised reprieve as a more disturbing trend surfaced, because as the amnesty programme of the Federal Government faltered, mid-ranking militants in the Niger Delta increasingly turned to offshore kidnappings-for-ransom. Consequently, in 2010, a total of 18 attacks involving kidnap-for-ransom were recorded.
Global reports and local findings are in agreement that maritime insecurity in Nigeria is driven by different factors along different parts of the shoreline. Off Lagos and the South-West of Nigeria, piracy has traditionally been of a subsistence character with relatively small shore-based groups preying on ships as they approach Lagos.
Subsistence piracy and fisheries disputes are common occurrences along the Bakassi, Cross-Rivers and Akwa Ibom coasts where attacks intensified, largely as a result of the unresolved Bakassi Peninsula issue and corrupt Nigerian licensing practices for fishing vessels.
There are confirmations that the main targets of attacks are Nigerian-flagged, but foreign owned, fishing vessels.
According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), on January 4, 2009, pirates hijacked the French ship Bourbon Leda with five Nigerians, two Ghanaians, one Cameroonian and one Indonesian on board. Also, on January, 21, gunmen attack the diesel tanker MT Meredith and kidnapped a Romanian, while in the same month, pirates also boarded an Exxon tanker MV Ngoni and stole some items and also seized a tugboat. Another outstanding attack was the one involving the attack on the Turkish ship Ilena Mercan from where two crew were kidnapped.
Similarly, on March 13, 2010, a Chinese fishing vessel was hijacked off the Bakassi Peninsula, where seven fishermen were abducted. The kidnappers demanded a ransom and later released the vessel and its passengers on March 18.
One noteworthy incident of 2010 was the hijack of the product tanker Valle di Cordoba on December 24, 2010 and the theft of 5000 tons of petrol (technically offshore Benin), by supposedly Nigerian pirates.
This is the sad testimony of Nigeria’s maritime domain which has become a playground for piracy and other vices, including sea robberies, illegal bunkering and smuggling. The above is just a few of the embarrassing incidents of attacks on ships on Nigerian waters.
Surprisingly, while all of these were going on, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) still deceives itself that attacks on ships on Nigerian waters have reduced. It attributed the phantom success in the Lagos maritime domain to the engagement of a private firm; Global West Vessel Specialist.
Perhaps, NIMASA’s understanding of reduction is based on the fact that (in Nigeria) not many incidences of attacks are reported in Lagos. The agency’s belief is also probably strengthened by the perceived success of its partnership with the Navy and the romance with the private maritime outfit which now claims to be patrolling Lagos waters.
We completely align with the plethora of stakeholders who have kicked against the concession agreement which, if allowed to sail through, will effectively hand-over the nation’s maritime domain to a private entity; all in the name of engaging the private sector.
As much as it is true that NIMASA lacks the competence to secure Nigerian coast for ships, crew and cargo.
If truly, NIMASA has failed, if indeed, it can not do without the Navy to perform its statutory duty of ensuring safety and security of Nigerian waters, then concession is not the only or best option that is available.
Until President Goodluck Jonathan (in a rather suspicious manner) withdrew the Maritime Security Agency (MASECA) bill, it was the best option that Nigeria had to tackle the menace of piracy off her coast as well as robberies, smuggling and illegal bunkering on her waters.
The MASECA was conceived as an inter-agency body and if parochial vested interests had not been allowed to thwart it, it would have provided the needed solution to these challenges. Be that as it may our stand is that whatever is needful to make the nation’s waters safer for maritime, oil and gas activities will enjoy our endorsement.
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