As Pirates Ride Roughshod over Nigerian Waters
Eromosele Abiodun highlights the recent attacks on ships berthing at the Lagos Ports Complex and calls on government agencies responsible for tackling the ugly menace to sit up
At the quarterly stakeholders meeting organised by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos last week, an official of one of the terminal operators raised the alarm that they have witnessed seven attacks in the last one month.
The official, who pleaded with the government to tackle the menace head-on, said the company had to employ the service of private security to guard its ships.
The situation is even worst in the Niger Delta axis. Last month, a terminal operator had complained to official of the NPA at a similar forum that his company was going out of business following increased attacks on vessels calling at his terminal.
The official gave a griping example of how one of its ships was attacked, and the captain and the crew locked themselves in the engine room.
According to him, after the attackers had left the scene, the ship drifted and collided with an oil tanker vessel, causing irreparable damage to the ship.
Also last week, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, called on stakeholders in the maritime sector to develop a strategy to deal with the challenges within the permissible scope of security agencies to improve on maritime security.
The minister made the call in a presentation tagged, “Armed Guards Aboard Merchant Vessels in Nigeria -Legal or Illegal,” at the 3th Edition of Lagos International Maritime Week in Lagos.
Malami who was represented by the Special Assistant to the President on Financial Crimes, Mr. Abiodun Aikomo said maritime security has become an important requirement for merchants’ vessels over the last decade due to the increasing threats from pirates across the world.
He stressed that the issue of maritime security in the Nigerian territorial waters should be taken seriously.
According to him, “Human beings have the responsible for self-preservation of their life and limbs and by extension, private properties and investments. As to the legality and illegality of armed guards on merchant vessels in Nigeria, the debate should no longer be focused on whether armed guards should be employed.
“Rather, how they can effectively, legally and safely be engaged with emphasis on accreditation and accountability. In this regard, the United Kingdom and Norway have provided regulations on the use of private guards on-board.”
He added: “The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has also announced its change of stance on armed guards. Even though Nigerian- flagged vessels cannot make use of armed private guards as the law stands today. The reality is that there must be a dynamic strategy of dealing with security challenges facing merchant vessels in Nigerian waters.”
He said that it could be necessary to amend the relevant laws in long term, adding that there was need for stakeholders to develop a strategy within the scope of power of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in collaboration with other sister agencies.
IMB Report
Recently, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) released a report naming Nigeria as one of the hotspots for sea piracy.
The IMB in the report said: “Of the 27 seafarers kidnapped worldwide for ransom between January and March 2017, 63 per cent were in the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is the main kidnap hotspot with 17 crew taken in three separate incidents, up from 14 in the same period in 2016.
“All three vessels – a general cargo ship, a tanker and a bulk carrier were attacked while underway 30-60 nautical miles off the Bayelsa coast. Three more ships were fired upon at up to 110 nautical miles from land, and many other attacks are believed to go unreported.”
Specifically, Director of IMB, Pottengal Mukundan, said: “The Gulf of Guinea is a major area of concern, consistently dangerous for seafarers, and signs of kidnappings increasing. IMB has worked closely with the response agencies in the region including the Nigerian Navy, which has provided valuable support, but more needs to be done to crack down on the area’s armed gangs. We urge vessels to report all incidents so that the true level of piracy activity can be assessed.”
IMB said guns were used in 18 of the incidents and vessels were underway in 17 of the 20 reported attacks.
IMB further stated that 39 of the 49 crew members kidnapped globally occurred off Nigerian waters in seven separate incidents. Other crew kidnappings in 2017 have been reported 60 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria.
“In total, 92 vessels were boarded, 13 were fired upon, there were 11 attempted attacks and five vessels were hijacked in the first nine months of 2017, “it stated.
The flagship global report noted that, while piracy rates were down compared to the same period in 2016, there is continuing concern over attacks in the Gulf of Guinea and in South East Asia.
Who’s Responsibility?
Since the report was released, a number of attacks have been recorded showing that government agencies responsible for the monitoring and foiling of attacks are clearly failing in their responsibility.
Put simply, Section 22 (P) of the NIMASA Act provides opportunity for the agency to provide maritime security. The obvious question then will be why the agency is not doing what is necessary to put an end to piracy in Nigerian waters. For those who don’t know, the NIMASA only last year awarded a surveillance contract worth billions of naira, a move that was intended to check raising cases of piracy and other vices in Nigerian waters. This has not happened and no one seems to care. Late last year, the United States of America, through its Maritime Administration, warned ships to be wary when approaching Nigerian waters.
“Two incidents have been reported in the Gulf of Guinea in the past six days. The first reportedly occurred south of Port Harcourt, Nigeria at 0600 GMT on October 21, 2017. The second reportedly occurred in the vicinity of 03-35.50N 006-49.20E at 1905 GMT on October 25, 2017; both incidents have been confirmed, “it said in a report.
“The nature of the first incident was piracy and kidnapping; the nature of the second incident was piracy, ”it noted.
Quoting the latest quarterly report from the IMB, the US Maritime Administration stated that “the latest quarterly report from the International Maritime Bureau notes that a total of 20 reports of attacks against all vessel types were received from Nigeria, 16 of which occurred off the coast of Brass, Bonny and Bayelsa. In general, all waters in and off Nigeria remain risky, despite intervention in some cases by the Nigerian Navy. We advise vessels to be vigilant, “it concluded.
The US advisory report to ship masters and owners further warned that ship transiting Nigerian waters to be cautious and seek further information, even as it stated that the alert subsists until November 2, 2017.
NPA Takes Action
Worried about the attacks on vessels berthed at the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC), the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority announced that it has outlined strategies to counter such attacks.
The Managing Director of the NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman who disclosed this at a quarterly stakeholders meeting in Lagos, admitted that there are challenges in the operations of the ports stressing however, that they are being looked into.
Usman who was represented by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Mr. Sekonte Davis said by the time some of the strategies are put in place, the NPA would be able to point fingers at stakeholders perceived to be responsible for such attacks.
This is just as stakeholders accused foreign shipping companies operating in Nigeria of contravening federal government directive on holding bays for their empty containers.
They accused the foreign shipping lines of deliberately not having holding bays for their empty containers in order to defraud the nation’s economy.
Davis disclosed that more patrol boats will be purchased to enhance port waterfront patrols.
The NPA boss however advised the manage-