Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed satisfaction in the ongoing war against piracy and other maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea, just as he has announced that Nigeria remains committed to spearheading the efforts in tackling crimes in the waterways.
The President who spoke yesterday on his verified Twitter handle, recalled that in 2019 he assented to Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act, 2019 (SPOMO Act), which according him was aimed to curb piracy, armed robbery and other unlawful acts against any ship lawfully operating in the Gulf of Guinea.
President Buhari who was billed to launch the ‘Network on Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea’ at a national conference organised by the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) in Port Harcourt yesterday, noted that the Nigerian government recently, invested $195 million in security boats, vehicles and aircraft.
“I’m pleased with the successes being recorded in tackling piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria remains committed to spearheading these efforts. Through the Deep Blue Project, launched in June 2021, Nigeria invested $195 million in security boats, vehicles and aircraft
“In June 2019, I assented to the Suppression of Piracy & Other Maritime Offences Act, 2019 (SPOMO Act), passed by the National Assembly, and which aims to prevent and suppress Piracy, Armed Robbery and other unlawful acts against any ship lawfully operating in the Gulf of Guinea.”
However, stakeholders at the conference have urged the president Buhari-led federal government to reach out to its counterparts in the Gulf of Guinea and immediately establish a “taskforce against organised crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.”
They also urged the President to issue the licenses already approved for 18 modular refinery for Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Edo and Rivers states, before leaving office in May, as a way of mitigating organised crimes in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea,
Executive Director of YEAC, Mr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, who made the demand in his remarks at the conference urged the federal government to make real all its promises to the youths and people of the Niger Delta that can help mitigate organised crime in the region and the Gulf of Guinea.
Fyneface said instead of pipeline surveillance contracts, the government should provide alternative livelihood opportunities for those displaced by the war against artisanal refining.
He explained that organised crime thrives because security agencies who are supposed to expose it are involved, aiding, abetting and refusing to say something when they see something.
“I call on the Gulf of Guinea Commission to strengthen its efforts in the coordination of member states and synergising with non-state actors especially under the auspices of Network on Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG) in the fight against organised crime in the region.
“I call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to reach out to its counterparts in the Gulf of Guinea and immediately establish a Taskforce Against Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (TAOCING).
“Issue the 18 modular refinery licenses already approved for Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Edo and Rivers states. I hereby reiterate the call for Ondo, Abia, and Imo States where pipeline vandalism, artisanal refining and associated environmental pollution is also on-going to be included among the states to be issued three modular refinery licences each to mitigate the on-going organised crime.
“Government should establish Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) for illegal artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta the same way it established Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) for illegal gold miners in parts of the north and western Nigeria.
“I call on security operatives posted to the Niger Delta to stop getting involved, aiding and abetting pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and artisanal refining that destroys our environment.
“I call on Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Ministry of Transportation, the Presidential Amnesty Programme and other relevant ministries, departments and agencies of government to implement in full, the communiqué issued at the end of the Global Maritime Security Conference in Abuja in 2019.”
In his keynote address, the Head, Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Fidelis Allen, noted the urgent need for the government to act more decisively and commit itself to combating organised crime due to its scale, transnational nature, low resilience of countries, vulnerability of innocent people, and the impact it has on general security and development.
