Nigeria loses $1.5bn monthly to sea robbery, piracy ----U.S
(Nigeria) Nigeria is losing about 1.5 billion dollars a
month to piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling, and fuel supply fraud, a
Unites States official said.
Amb. Michele Sison, U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations,
made this known on Monday in New York.
He made the revelation at the UN Security Council Open
Debate on Peace Consolidation in West Africa with the theme ``Piracy and Armed
Robbery at Sea in the Gulf of Guinea.''
Sison said illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing also
generate a sizeable income loss in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year,
for many countries and communities that depend on this sector to survive.
She said that earlier this month on April 11 at 7.56 p.m.,
pirates attacked a cargo vessel off the coast of Nigeria.
She added that the pirates waited for darkness before
ambushing the vessel and boarded with force.
``The captain and crew sounded the alarm and hid in a
protected space on the ship only to discover when they emerged the following
day that two of their crew were missing.
A second officer from the Philippines and an electrician from Egypt;
both are still missing.
"This was neither the first pirate attack of the year,
nor even the first attack that day. Earlier
on April 11, the very same day, pirates had attacked a Turkish cargo ship off
the coast of Nigeria, kidnapping six of the crew, including the vessel’s
captain.
"Those men are also still missing. Piracy and armed
robbery in the Gulf of Guinea are increasing at an alarming rate, with some
industry experts recording at least 32 attacks off the coast of Nigeria alone
in 2016, affecting many Member States, including the U.S.
"The economic consequences for the people of the region
are devastating. According to a Chatham House report, as much as 400,000
barrels of crude oil are stolen each day in the Gulf of Guinea,’’ she said.
She said:" we have spoken many times in this chamber
about the root causes of piracy, ineffective governance structures, weak rule
of law, precarious legal frameworks and inadequate naval, coast guard, and
maritime law enforcement.
"The absence of an effective maritime governance system
in particular hampers freedom of movement in the region, disrupts trade and
economic growth, and facilitates environmental crimes.
"We have also acknowledged in our resolutions and in
the presidential statement adopted this morning that the solution to these root
causes lies in greater African stewardship of maritime safety and security at
the continental, regional, and Member State level.
"Strong political will from African governments and
leaders is needed to pursue and prosecute crimes at all levels within criminal
enterprises".
She said that maritime crime flourishes under ineffective or
complicit governance structures, but was diminished when rule of law was
effective.
She said that with the absence of African ownership and
action from national and local governments to tackle maritime security
challenges, there was little reason to believe that attacks in the Gulf of
Guinea would decline.
In this regard, she welcomed the Yaoundé Summit documents,
which articulated a comprehensive view of maritime safety and security,
including combating illegal fishing; trafficking of arms, people, drugs, and
maritime pollution.
She commended the UN offices of West and Central Africa for
providing capacity building and technical assistance to governments in the
region.
As well as sub-regional organizations, including the Gulf of
Guinea Commission, the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS, and
the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
Sison urged the Member States of the regional and
sub-regional organisations to make the Inter regional Coordination Centre fully
operational.
She also said the U.S. was doing its part to support the
efforts of its African partners in the Gulf of Guinea.
Sison explained further that the U.S. approach was based on
three guiding principles: the prevention of attacks, the response to acts of
maritime crime, and enhancing maritime security and governance.
"On prevention, we are supporting ECOWAS and ECCAS
efforts to strengthen regional maritime strategies, including the completion of
their Memorandum of Understanding and Code of Conduct for Central and West
Africa.
"We are also encouraging nations to fully implement the
Yaoundé Code of Conduct and the 2050 AU African Integrated Maritime Strategy.
"We encourage states in the region to further enhance
security by establishing pilot maritime Zone 'E' covering the coasts of
Nigeria, Niger, Benin, and Togo, an area where the majority of attacks
occur," she added.
She said that the establishment of the Zone, would provide
the means for an integrated approach to coordinating joint patrols, naval
drills, training programs, and intelligence sharing among the naval forces of
countries in the zone.
On responding to acts of maritime crime, she said, the U.S.
trains, equips, and conducts exercises and operations with African maritime
forces through its African Partnership Station.
To enhance maritime security and governance, she added that
the U.S. is assisting with strengthening the judicial sectors of Gulf of Guinea
nations and regional capacity to address impunity for piracy and related
maritime crime.
She also said that Technical assistance helps these countries
put in place the necessary criminal laws to effectively prosecute armed robbery
at sea and piracy cases.
Sison underscored the importance of a comprehensive regional
approach to addressing maritime insecurity.
A comprehensive approach, she said, would help to reduce the
loss of national revenue, support socioeconomic development and expand
environmental protection in the region.
Comments
Post a Comment