Nigeria Navy Raises The Bar Against Piracy In The Gulf Of Guinea
The Nigeria Navy has raised the bar against the activities of Pirates in the gulf of Guinea while putting up pressure to clampdown the piracy rate in the last 10 years.
The Nigeria Navy has raised the bar against the activities of Pirates in the gulf of Guinea while putting up pressure to clampdown the piracy rate in the last 10 years.
According to the NN, the spate of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) within the last 10 years has dractically reduced to an all time low since the year 2022.
The Director of Information, NN, Commodore, AO Ayo-Vaughan, in a statement on Sunday, said serious concerted efforts are being made to reduce piracy within the GoG to its lowest minimum.
According to him, two unfortunate incidences were recorded within the GoG in the last three weeks.
Ayo-Vaughan stated that the first incident, which involved the hijack of Motor Tanker (MT) MONJASA
REFORMER, occurred on 25 March 2023, at a location144 nautical mile (nm) West-SouthWest (WSW) of Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo.
He explained that it was later discovered that the pirates abducted six crew members from the vessel, adding that the second incident involved the hijack of MT SUCCESS-9 about 306 nm SW of Abidjan Fairway Buoy (FWB), Cote d’Ivoire on 10 April, 2023.
"In reaction to the recent spike in piracy incidents in the GoG, the Nigerian Navy (NN) has
sustained presence of her capital ships at sea as well as directed operations bases to enhance
efforts to dominate their Areas of Operations.
"It is pertinent to state that the NN vectored Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) GONGOLA to rendezvous MT MONJASA REFORMER in company of NNS KANO and a French Warship to escort the vessel to Lome, Togo. The NN has equally continued to employ her surveillance infrastructure to monitor shipping activities within the nation’s maritime environment and will continue to exploit intelligence to track activities of criminals in order to maintain sanctity of the Nigerian Maritime Environment (NME).
"To this end, the NN enjoins all seafarers to continue to carry out their legitimate businesses without fear.
While noting that no incident of piracy has occurred within NME and the area is safe for
maritime and economic activities, the NN would continue to sustain credible presence to
deter any form of criminality." The statement reads.
Ayo-Vaughan stressed that in securing the NME and GoG in general, that the NN appreciated
the efforts of international partners under the Coordinated Maritime Presence arrangement, as well as the support of other maritime stakeholders that play other roles in the collective security of the GoG.
What's Your Reaction?
