Maritime security: NIMASA re-strategises to fight piracy

As part of its determination to fight piracy and other illegal activities on Nigerian waters, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is set to review its maritime security strategy to properly fight piracy.

In a statement signed by Lami Tumaka, head, Public Relations team of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, the director general of the agency disclosed this during the 2016 budget defence before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport. He said the strategy will be built on three core pillars of NIMASA’s mandate that include safety of lives at sea; protection of goods on voyage and securing Nigerian maritime assets. To achieve this, the NIMASA DG stated that a multifaceted approach including cooperation and coordination of security agencies of all the countries in the Gulf of Guinea by the Office of the National Security Adviser while NIMASA play a key role.

According to him, Nigerian military would lead the team that will patrol the country’s territorial waters with NIMASA providing technical support. He added that there would be an effective use of the agency’s satellite surveillance facility to detect illegalities in real time, even as assured the passage of anti piracy law that will strengthen the legal framework for prosecution of piracy related offences.

Peterside, who solicited the cooperation of the Senate Committee for the actualisation of the agency’s mandate in sustaining safety and security in the maritime domain, also assured Nigerians that the combination of these strategies would reduce to the barest minimum, maritime crimes on Nigerian waters in the coming year.

While stressing the commitment of the agency to fully automate its processes under the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), the DG expressed the desire to integrate this platform with the systems already developed by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for greater efficiency and productivity.

He assured the committee members of the management’s commitment to ensure transparency, accountability and probity in the discharge of its mandate as he assured them that NIMASA would no longer tolerant corruption.

Responding to this, Ahmad Rufai Sani, chairman of the Committee promised the NIMASA management of the Committee’s support towards ensuring that the agency delivers on its programmes for 2016.

He commended the DG for his commitment to repositioning the Agency to attain its core mandates, adding that the Committee will exercise effective oversight to ensure that the budgetary provisions are strictly followed.