A report by a British maritime security intelligence group Dryad Global has blamed weak response by the Nigerian government for the escalation of piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.
Countries within the Gulf of Guinea – the northeasternmost part of the Atlantic Ocean – include Nigeria, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tomé and Principe, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. The Gulf of Guinea is a major route for petroleum products.
The Gulf of Guinea is considered as the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy and accounted for 95 percent of 195 seafarers kidnapped from their vessels in 2020, the highest ever number, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
Dryad Global, in its 2021 annual report, noted that the activities of Nigerian pirates were largely responsible for the escalating insecurity in the area. “The West African maritime security situation is at breaking point; seafarers’ lives are at risk from ever-increasing violent attacks and Nigerian pirates are operating with increased impunity,” the report said.
“If there is an epidemic of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, then Nigeria is undoubtedly the epicentre,” the report noted.
Dryad Global further observed that although Nigerian authorities had continued to implement programmes aimed at curbing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the measures had not been effective.
“Thus far, however, programmes aimed at tackling the root of the issue through social-economic coastal development and community regeneration are limited,” the report said.
As part of the non-binding Yaoundé Code of Conduct and the binding Lomé charter, Nigeria has several international obligations, which include investment in equipment, operations and training to improve maritime security and safety.
In 2019, Nigeria launched the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as Deep Blue Project (DBP), which aims to address insecurity and criminality in the country’s territorial waters. The Deep Blue Project is estimated to have cost 195 million dollars and will oversee all security matters in Nigeria.
If implemented in the expected timeframe, the DBP is likely to lead to a reduction in piracy in 2021.
Also, the Nigerian Maritime Safety Agency (NIMASA) has announced that the DB Abuja and DB Lagos – two multi-purpose surveillance vessels – would be deployed with eight fast interceptor attack boats in the Lagos Security Anchorage Area (SAA).
The federal government had enacted the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Act (SUPMOA) in 2019, with a view to to suppressin piracy, armed robbery and other unlawful acts in the maritime domain. Going by SUPMOA provisions, piracy is punishable with life imprisonment and payment of N50 million naira fine, in addition to restitution to the owner of the hijacked vessel.
But the Dryad Global report said the efforts being made by the Nigerian government to counter piracy were lacking in substance.
“Unfortunately, whilst strong on rhetoric, Nigeria’s efforts to combat piracy are, thus far, short on substance,” the report said.
The report pointed to the unsatisfactory implementation of the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Act as a sign that the federal government was not really committed to the fight against piracy.
The recent dismantling of the privately-run Security Anchorage Area at Nigerian ports by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari was also cited as a sign that Nigeria was merely paying lip service to the anti-piracy campaign.
A Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) is an area outside the Lagos port that the Nigerian Navy, with a private company, had established as a secure place where vessels could anchor safely from the threat of pirate attack. But Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director of the NPA, announced that henceforth, private security companies would no longer provide SAA services.
The Dryad Global report said, “The prosecution of a private company involved in the transfer of a ransom payment as the first conviction under the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Act is symptomatic of a wider trend in which the Nigerian government appears more focused on holding the commercial balance of power over third-party security providers than combating piracy.
2021 – All Rights Reserved. International Centre for Investigative Reporting