The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has expressed concerns over the spate of increased piracy and maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea as the steady reduction in the menace experienced between 2021 and 2022 has been overlapped by recent developments.
A reported upward push of about 50 per cent in piracy and maritime crimes has been recorded from the first nine months of 2023 vis-à-vis the corresponding period in 2022.
Sixty-five incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded in the first half of 2023 representing an increase from 58 incidents for the same period in 2022. Of the 65 incidents reported, 57 vessels were boarded, four had attempted attacks, two were hijacked and two were fired upon.
The UNDP said anti-piracy and other maritime crimes has been a source of concern to not only Nigeria, but also international business actors who move their goods and services to other countries like Nigeria through the sea.
According to UNDP Team Lead, Governance, Peace & Security, Mr. Matthew Alao: “There is an upsurge in this crime and criminality in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), especially to the lives of the crew at sea, because within a period of nine months of this year, about 70 crew were victims of piracy and maritime crimes. 54 were taken hostages, 14 were kidnapped and two are injured.
Mr. Also conveyed this during an Anti-Piracy and Prevention of Maritime Crimes Course organized by the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre (MLAILPKC) at the Nigerian Army School of Finance in Lagos.
“This astronomical increase in the piracy and maritime crimes reported by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) of the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) in GoG is a wakeup call to all maritime actors to step up efforts at combating piracy and all forms of crimes and criminalities in GoG coastal areas,” Mr. Also said.
He said the urgent need to tackle the upsurge prompted intervention in the training of core stakeholders from countries around the GoG by the MLAILPKC through the initiative of the project funded by the Government of Japan since 2021 to address maritime security and the broader crimes that happen at sea.
MLAILPKC, with the technical collaboration from the Nigerian Navy, has trained 117 beneficiaries in four past courses organized between 2021 and 2023 project cycle.
The most recent course scheduled to run for 2 weeks was inaugurated November 20, 2023 marking the milestone as the fifth course conducted by the Centre since project inception in 2021.
Mr. Also said the course, being a timely intervention, will strengthen the skills and knowledge of the participants on anti-piracy and prevention of maritime crimes and will complement the resilient interventions of other players in GoG region.
Commandant of the MLAILPKC, Brigadier General Obinna Godwin Onubogu, said the maritime course series, which has been running consecutively in since 2021 in Jaji, Kaduna State, had to hold in Lagos this time to enhance the training experience by taking advantage of the maritime environment, as well as conduct practical lessons at sea on anti piracy.
“We also have support from the Nigerian Navy, who will be helping us with some of those practical demonstrations in Lagos here,” the Commandant said.
Brig. General Onubogu said participants on the current course run are drawn from four countries that included Ghana, Benin, Togo, and Nigeria. He noted though that the MLAILPKC trains participants, particularly from West African countries in areas that cover all aspects of maritime security. The current course run though is done in a specialised capacity to focus more on piracy issues around the Gulf of Guinea.
“We have participants from the Ghana Navy, Beninoise Navy, we even have participants for the Maritime Police of Nigeria. Each one will take a bit of the program that they’ve learned and go back to the organizations and implement what they learned and their leaders and the heads of the organizations will see the impact that these participants will have at the end of this course,” he said.
Also part of the course are participants from the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) with expected participants from the Cameroon Armed Forces.
Chief of Training Army Maj. Gen. Sanni G. Mohammed rep by Brigadier General Julius E Osifo said the challenge being faced in the maritime sector, including maritime crimes such as piracy, requires that creating a safe maritime environment will remain an area of special interest for various governments along the GoG.
Security is important to the sector because the maritime sector has always played an important role in the economy of governments of the Gulf of Guinea and enormous trans-shipping and fishing activities take place in this sector with huge developmental impacts on their national economies, Brigadier General Osifo said.
The Guardian gathered that the intervention of the UNDP, MLAILPKC and the Government of Japan is apt, especially as the Commercial Crime Services of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), reported that in recent developments of maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea, perpetrators have successfully boarded 90% of targeted vessels. Violence towards crew continues with 36 taken hostage, 14 kidnapped, three threatened, two injured and one assaulted.
The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) raised its concern on the resurgence of reported incidents in the Gulf of Guinea waters and the increase in incidents in the Singapore Straits in its mid-year report for 2023.
IMB Director Michael Howlett said: “The resurgence in reported incidents including hostage situations and crew kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea waters is concerning. The IMB calls for continued, robust regional and international naval presence as a deterrent to address these crimes.”
