Maritime security: Kidnap, violent attacks threaten cargo movement in GG

Though, many pirate attacks taking place in Nigerian territorial waters and other parts of Gulf of Guinea (GG) are hidden from the public domain, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its recent report has rated Nigeria as a hotspot for violent attacks and armed robbery at sea.

This is such that pirate attacks, kidnapping and armed robbery at sea have become a huge threat to the movement of import and export commodities especially crude oil and refined petroleum products that neither come in or go out of the oil rich countries in the West African sub-region.

Industry close watchers, who have called for both national and regional stringent measures to tackling piracy, say that persistent attacks are responsible for high freight rate, increased insurance premium on imports, which not only adds to the high cost of doing business but also results to high cost of goods in the market.

Emma Nwabunwanne, a Lagos-based shipper, who lamented on the high cost of freight paid to shipping companies for bringing imports into the country, says that government agencies such as Nigerian Navy, Marine Police and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), responsible for ensuring safety of ships on water, need to look inwards to find lasting solution to the issues around piracy and other criminalities at sea.

According to him, both agencies need to join forces to fight piracy so as to reduce the burden of insecurity on ships calling and going out of Nigerian waters. He further believed that time has come for the National Assembly to pass into law, the proposed bill on ‘Fight against Piracy and other related Illegalities on Nigerian Waters,’ so that due punishment would be given to persons found guilty of the provisions of the act.     

For instance, IMB in its latest reports said that 14 incidents were recorded in Nigeria in 2015. During the attacks, pirates armed with AK47 rifles boarded and hijacked an oil tanker, and took all nine crewmembers hostage. The oil cargo onboard was siphoned to another vessel, which was taken away by two of the attackers. It took the intervention of Ghanaian navy to arrest the pirates.

Also, Dryad Maritime on it latest report said that offshore maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea saw a 29 percent drop in 2015 compared to 2014.  “This was as a result of five months unprecedented break in piracy. However, it is not a time to be complacent, and the risk of kidnap remains a concern for crew operating off Nigeria with the overall figures for the number of crew kidnapped actually surpassing 2014’s records,” Dryad said.

In the GG, Dryad reported 49 incidents in 2015, with cases ranging from petty theft to kidnapping and single hijacking. When compared to 69 incidents in 2014, it gives a drop of 29 percent.

The report states that after the break, kidnapping of crew offshore of the Niger Delta recommenced with armed gangs taking 11 crew members in October and November in three separate incidents and we see similar trend in 2016, Dryad predicted. In 2015, 37 crewmembers were kidnapped for ransom in nine separate incidents off the Niger Delta while 14 similar attacks took place in 2014 resulting to the kidnapping of 34 crew members. The number of crew taken in 2015 is on a par with 2014, according to Dryad’s figures.

It further shows that the main target for kidnap is western crew, usually the Master and Chief Engineer, due to the higher ransom that the pirates get on them. West African crew may only fetch several thousand pounds, whilst European crew fetches over $100,000 per person. The unprecedented five-month period, May to October 2015, where no criminal attacks occurred in the Gulf of Guinea, coincided with the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Close watchers believed that Buhari’s influence was responsible for the almost complete cessation of attacks off Nigeria’s coastline during that five month period. Also, it can be attributed to the reduced financial rewards available from black market due to the decline in the global price of oil. Dryad said it anticipates a continuation of kidnap off Nigeria, however, the main indicator of changes in the maritime security off Nigeria, is based on the reaction of the Niger Delta militants to Buhari’s leadership, and his efforts to balance their requirements for the development of the area alongside maintaining Nigeria’s political integration.

In reality, it seems that a more proactive and visual presence that was being conducted by the Nigerian Navy off the Niger Delta, assisted by new ships commissioned long before Buhari came to power, is more likely to account for the prolonged break in maritime crime, Dryad reports.