By Steve Agbota
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency( NIMASA) yesterday, said that the nation recorded 27 incidents of armed attack and piracy in quarter three of 2021 against vessels at the port anchorages.
Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, who disclosed this at the International Maritime Week 2021 with the theme: “Seafarers and Maritime Capacity at the Core of Africa’s Shipping Future” said the impact of armed robbery and piracy attacks both at the anchorage and the GoG was devastating on seafarers’ and shipping activities.
According to him, the agency would be meeting with the Inspector General of Police to discuss the performance of the Marine Police to ensure things are put on ground for them to complement the Navy operatives.
“There has been decline in piracy attack in the Gulf of Guinea, as the region recorded 28 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the first nine months of 2021, in comparison to 46 for the same period in 2020.
“Crew kidnappings in the region have dropped with only one crew members kidnapped in Q3 2021, compared to 31 crew members taken in five separate incidents during Q3 2020.
“It impacted the seafarers and shipping economically such as loss of revenue due to illegal activities, high insurance premium, threat to commerce; socially such as arm and drug smuggling, kidnapping, restiveness and others,” he said. He said the environmental impacts are destruction and pollution of the marine ecosystem which leads to loss of livelihood.