Stakeholders want life sentence for pirates, terrorists

Ismail, Oyewole and Isa Suwaid
Juliana Francis
The Presidency recently said that the desire by oil companies, fishing trawlers and other vessel operators to cut corners and engaged in economic malpractices were responsible for the worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria’s maritime domain.
This statement perturbed stakeholders in the sector, who determined to do something about the situation. Thus they came together in Lagos State, to brainstorm on how to address the issues thrust up by the Presidency’s observation.
In an interactive session which was held at Apapa, the stakeholders agreed that tackling of corruption, fostering citizen government cooperation and adequate funding of security agencies, among other factors were ways to address the issues.
Speaking at a one day- seminar tagged: “Preventing Terrorism and Insurgency in Nigeria’s Maritime Domain,” organised by the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON), Mr. Leke Oyewole, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime Affairs, said companies operating in the nation’s waters were guilty of illegal acts which encouraged violence in the maritime sector.
According to him, oil companies operating in the country often polluted the waters and neglected their host communities.
To express their dissatisfaction, Oyewole said that youths in the host communities attacked the companies and their infrastructure in the maritime domain.
While fishing trawlers carried cash made from illegal trade on the high sea, the presidential aide alleged that tanker vessel operators engaged in illegal oil trade, thereby drawing attacks from pirates.
Oyewole 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 tougher measures by government in fighting piracy, terrorism and other acts of violence in the maritime sector, including seizure of vessels involved in illegal acts and making of 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.
Dr. Kingsley Ezeatakwulu-Osakwe, President of Crisis Control Foundation, explained that negligence in the nation’s security framework and the unwillingness of the people to cooperate with government was responsible for the high level of insecurity in the country and the maritime sector.
His words: “The citizens are so much exploited, denied their rights that they become afraid of government security agencies. The increasing insecurity in Nigeria is self-imposed and inherited by the present administration. It’s 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 scored the judiciary low on performance, insisting that it had failed to protect the citizens from oppression and injustice. According to him, lack of justice in the country, had encouraged resort to self-help and violence by the oppressed.
To adequately address insecurity in the maritime domain and the country, Ezeatakwulu-Osakwe 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 approaches to tackling terrorism and insurgency.
Dr. Alex Okwuashi, Rector of the Certified Institute of Shipping of Nigeria, called for imposition of life sentence for piracy and other terrorist acts in the nation’s maritime sector, while he insisted that the government must also mobilise the people to actively participate in the battle against terrorists and other agents of violence.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Nebolisa Emodi 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.
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.
On his part, Mallam Isah Suwade of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stressed that his organisation had continued to develop adequate maritime infrastructure and sponsored manpower development as a way of tackling insecurity in the maritime sector.
He regretted that inter-agency decisions reached in the past were not properly implemented.
Earlier, Aniemu Ismail, President of the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria said 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.
Ismail added: “The global security challenges in various forms deserve more of preventive measures than reactive actions if we as a country must be on top of all security situations.
Nigeria being a coastal state is naturally endowed with very high economic activities in her maritime domain and the importance of sustained safety in this area of our economic life cannot be overemphasized.
We are aware of the strides being made by Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency not just to meet IMO requirements in line with the ISPS Code implementation but also to ensure that criminal activities in our waters are curbed.
With 60.1million tons of non-oil cargo recorded in six Nigerian ports in the first half of 2013, our country remains the determinant of import and export business in the West African region. Nigeria’s desire and drive for a hub port status is truly a deserved and realizable ambition, but dreams don’t just happen. One must be awake to see their realization and we must not lose sight of the need to sustain and improve on our achievements as a country in this direction.
As reporters, some of us have travelled by water within our inland waterways, we are of the opinion that security within our waterways, ports, jetties and the entire maritime domain should not be left in the hands of the armed forces alone. In this light, we posit that private sector participation in maritime security under strict government watch should be encouraged.”
The Customs Area Controller,  Apapa Area 1 Command, Comptroller Charles Edike  stated that operatives of the service had recovered several caches of arms and ammunition across the nation’s numerous land borders, sea and airports in the past few months.
He added that the weapon of mass destruction, if not that they were seized by customs officials, would have easily found its way into the hands of criminally minded groups, who would have used same to wreck havoc on innocent members of the public in the country.
Edike revealed that the seizures was  the service own way of joining hands with other security agencies in the ongoing Federal Government massive clamp down on the activities of insurgents across the country.
He said: “I will not forget the one by 20 feet container that was seized at Tin-Can port, Apapa, with explosives. The 96 kg of explosives seized at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, and also those that were recorded at Idiroko and Seme borders. Some were also recovered in Oyo State, Benin expressway and of course those that was made at Kaduna and Kano axis respectively.”
He further stated that the various terrorist groups had continued to wrecked havoc in most parts of the country with illegally acquired arms.
Edike said that the Nigerian Customs Service, under the leadership of the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Abdulahi Inde Dikko, was alive to its responsibility of also ensuring the security of the lives and property of the citizen by refusing to allow the illegal importation of arms and ammunition into the country.
“We are working, we will continue to work and we are alive to our responsibility. This informs the release of the import and export guidelines which I handed over to the President of MARCOM so that his members who are journalists will be better informed so as to enlighten members of the public,” he added.