.Reiterates commitment to battle criminality on Nigerian waters
By Uzor Odigbo
The Director General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh, has restated his agency’s resolve to step up the fight against piracy and other forms of criminality on Nigerian waters.
While commending the Rivers Marine Division of Nigeria Police for apprehending 17 suspected sea pirates recently, Jamoh said that NIMASA would continue to partner other agencies and international partners in the fight against maritime crimes.
In a tweet from his official Twitter handle, Jamoh described the police as being crucial to the nation’s maritime security architecture.
He tweeted “#SecurityisPriority. Kudos to @PoliceNG #RiversMarineDivision for Nabbing 17 Suspected Sea Pirates. You are crucial to our nation’s maritime security architecture. Together with other agencies & int’l partners we are sending a clear message against criminality on our waters.”
Operatives of the Marine Division of the Rivers State Police Command arrested 17 suspected pirates terrorising travellers on the waterways in the state.
The arrest followed attack of the Men of the Special Protection Unit, SPU; Base 5, Benin by sea pirates at Egelegele River in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, recently.
While announcing the arrest, the Rivers Police Command in a statement signed by its Spokesman, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, said one Destiny Ubani, and 16 others who allegedly carried out the dastardly act, where the men lost their arms and ammunition were arrested on Thursday evening in a well coordinated operation.
Omoni in the press statement said the suspects were currently helping the Police and making useful confessions.
He added that efforts had been intensified to arrest the remnants of the criminal gang, said to be responsible for the attacks on passengers along the Degema, Asari Toru and Akuku Toru Waterways.
Pirates will be put through a test trial of Nigerias Anti Piracy Law, the NIMASA restated.
Philip Kyanet, spokesman for NIMASA, disclosed in a statement that NIMASA has increased its commitment to collaborate among relevant agencies and stakeholders for the security of the country’s maritime domain.
The 17 suspected pirates will likely be prosecuted using the anti piracy law like 10 suspects earlier arrested by Nigerian Navy.
The 10 pirates had on May 15 attacked and boarded a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire and directed it towards Nigerian waters. They were arrested by the Nigerian Navy, which dispatched a ship to intercept the vessel after it got an alert.
The prosecution of the pirates would be the first trial of bandits arrested in international waters under the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act signed into law in June last year by President Muhammadu Buhari. The law made Nigeria the first in West and Central Africa to have a distinct anti-piracy legislation.
Jamoh attributed the successful operation that led to the arrest of the pirates and rescue of the ship and its crew to collaboration between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy.
He said the agency would continue to work with relevant security agencies to achieve its goal of eradicating piracy and all forms of illegality on the Nigerian waters.
The director-general stated, “We have just witnessed the handover of pirates. This is as a result of the robust collaboration between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy. There has been a lot of synergy between NIMASA and the Navy with regard to the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act.
“I also want to seize the opportunity to thank Mr. President for signing the anti-piracy law, which would facilitate sufficient prosecution of these pirates.”
