The desire by oil
companies, fishing trawlers and other vessel operators to cut corners and engage in economic malpractices is responsible for the worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria’s maritime domain, the presidency has said.
Speaking at a seminar tagged: “Preventing Terrorism and Insurgency in Nigeria’s Maritime Domain,” organised by the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON), a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime Affairs, Mr. Leke Oyewole, said companies operating in the nation’s waters were guilty of illegal acts which encourage violence in the Maritime sector.
Oyewole said, oil companies operating in the country often pollute the waters and neglect their host communities stressing that youths  express their dissatisfaction by attacking the companies and their infrastructure in the maritime domain. He said fishing trawlers carry cash from illegal trade on the high sea, while tanker vessel operators engage in illegal oil trade, thereby attracting the pirates to attack them.
Oyewole, however, admitted that weak maritime laws and lack of enforcement of the laws had largely contributed to the growing trend of piracy and other illegal acts in the nation’s maritime sector. He assured that government was working to create a synergy among agencies in the maritime sector and correct administrative lapses identified with a view to tackling insecurity in the nation’s waters. He pledged tough measures by government in fighting piracy, terrorism and other acts of violence in the maritime sector, saying that they would seize vessels involved in illegal acts and make adequate laws.
He revealed that a bill to strengthen the fight against piracy and other illegal acts in the nation’s waters sponsored by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was currently before the national assembly. For the part, the President of Crisis Control Foundation, Dr. Kingsley Ezeatakwulu-Osakwe, stressed that negligence in the nation’s security framework and the unwillingness of the people to cooperate with government were responsible for the high level of insecurity in the country and the maritime sector.
“The citizens are so much exploited, denied their rights that they become afraid of government security agencies. The increasing insecurity in Nigeria is elf-imposed and inherited by the present administration. It is clear that the present tackling methodology is not completely adequate because certain ingredients are still not added to the operational system of the entire security structure”, he said.
To address insecurity in the maritime domain and in the country, he called for an end to corruption, the development of an effective judiciary and good citizen-government relationship. He also urged security agencies in the country to be proactive in their approach to tackling terrorism and insurgency.
In his own presentation, Rector of the Certified Institute of Shipping of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Okwuashi, called for imposition of life sentence for piracy and other terrorist acts in the nation’s maritime sector, while the government must also mobilise the people to actively participate in the battle against terrorists and other agents of violence.
However, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Nebolisa Emodi has assured that the cooperation among the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Navy and the private sector was capable of addressing security challenges in the nation’s maritime domain.
Also speaking, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam and Eugene Nweke of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) urged action on the different laws and policy decisions taken to strengthen the nation’s maritime sector.
For his part, Mallam Isah Suwade of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stressed that his organisation had continued to develop adequate maritime infrastructure and sponsor manpower development as a way of tackling insecurity in the maritime sector.
He, however, regretted that inter-agency decisions reached in the past were not properly implemented.
Earlier, Aniemu Ismail, president of the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria had stressed that unless strategic steps were taken to tackle insecurity in the maritime domain, the hope of reaping the benefits of Nigeria’s maritime potential would not materialise.