Hyacinth Chinweuba
Group of Seven nations led by Italy is joining forces with Nigeria and other West African countries in the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and other sea crimes.
The group which met in Lagos include Germany, Canada, United States, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Brazil (observer), South Korea, Denmark, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and the European Union.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas, hosted the meeting which target is fight against piracy, illicit trafficking of narcotics, weapons, human beings and goods, illegal fishing and marine litter and development of maritime industry.
The group had earlier held similar meeting in Rome, Italy which attracted over 120 participants from over 40 countries, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, among others.
The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, who attended the event as the special guest of honour, expressed concern over the increase in maritime crime in the GOG region.
He was quoted saying, “in the Nigerian waters, which include kidnapping, piracy, illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, smuggling, human and drug trafficking, illegal bunkering and crude oil theft among others.”
“Unfortunately, factors that fuel the acts are centered on the socio-economic issues in the Niger Delta region coupled with the activities of external collaborators who derive pecuniary benefits from internationally organised crimes.
“To change the narrative of insecurity and criminality in the Nigerian waters, the Nigerian Government adopted the hard and soft power approach, including bilateral and multi-lateral collaborations with organisations and countries within and outside the region”.
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in reaction to the meeting said the countries believe in the efforts of Nigeria in the fight against piracy.
The DG who spoke on the sideline of the G7 group summit in Lagos stated that the fact that the Italian government decided to hold the meeting in Lagos Nigeria, which is the first time outside Europe shows that they believe in the country’s efforts to fight piracy and other criminal activities in the Nigeria and in the Gulf of Guinea.
He also stated that since Nigeria has been given the leadership role to curtail criminal activities in the region, the agency has continued to collaborate with the relevant authorities, both locally and internationally to put an end to the issues surrounding piracy in the region.
Peterside assured that the agency is working with stakeholders and the global maritime community to ensure that the menace of piracy is totally stamped out in the Gulf of Guinea in order to allow for free flow of trade in the region.
Speaking further, Peterside noted that NIMASA has also gone a step further to tackle piracy from four broad approaches namely; legal framework through an anti-piracy bill, which will soon be passed to law, thereby making Nigeria the first country in the whole of Africa to formulate such policy.
Others are acquisition of military hardware, through partnership with an Israeli firm, which will enhance our response capabilities to criminal activities, enhancing our intelligence gathering system and regional integration and collaboration through working with other African countries.
According to him, “No piracy begins and ends in one jurisdiction; when there is a hot pursuit, they shift to another region, and on our part, we are determined to give them a hot chase through our partnership and other collaboration with other countries in the region”.
Meanwhile, the NIMASA DG used the opportunity to clear the air on the just concluded International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council election and noted that the international community still reckons with Nigeria’s efforts in terms of its performance.
He stated that Nigeria is the first country in Africa that subjected itself to IMO audit, which rated Nigeria high in terms of security on its waterways in line with the International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) facility code; with Nigeria having complied by over 80 per cent.
Also, in the area of ratification of IMO conventions, Nigeria has done very well, which is very evident in the day to day running of the maritime sector in Nigeria.
While further explaining that the reasons Nigeria did not win was due to the fact that we started fairly late in our campaign for the election, as Nigeria was still coming back into the international reckoning with a new government, so NIMASA could not reach out early enough to its counterparts in other countries for support, some of whom have made up their minds.
He added that contrary to insinuations in the media, Nigeria however did not spend as much money as is being peddled.
He however, called on the media to continue to partner with the agency in beaming its activities in good light and also expressed optimism that Nigeria has started preparation to return to the IMO Category C, in the next election in 2019.
The G7++ Friends of Gulf of Guinea Group is headed by the Italian government and it is poised to ensure sustainable interest in the promotion of peace, security and development in the Gulf of Guinea.
Meanwhile, the DG has called for support for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and of the Nigerian Police Force, to help check the rising crime rate following the several killings and upsurge in criminal activities in Rivers state .
While noting that changes in Nigeria has made reforms for most institutions of Government inevitable, the NIMASA DG said that SARS is one of such organs of government now in need of reform.
This he explained will go a long way to enhance their operations. He noted that Nigerians should support the Police Force, the Police should be reformed like other Agencies of Government in order to perform optimally.
While condemning those calling for the scrapping of SARS as mischievous, Dakuku restated his believe that strengthening and reforming the anti-robbery squad is rather the way forward to enhance their capacity. “I support the good work of SARS and wish to add that like any other agency of government, it should be reorganized and strengthened to function better. In every society, without the police, there can be no law and order” he said.
He further pointed out that SARS has been very instrumental in policing in Nigeria, particularly, Rivers State. He also added that it is beneficiaries of crime that are oppose to operations of the Anti-Crime outfit. In his word “Nobody could deny the fact that Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has been very potent in tackling violent crimes and helped to reduce incidents of crimes and build confidence in the people”