The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that
proper legal framework, synergy and information sharing among government
agencies and stakeholders will help curb crimes in the nation’s
territorial waterways and the Gulf of Guinea...
Peterside, who stated this during the
first specialized meeting on maritime piracy organized by the INTERPOL
Regional Bureau of West Africa in Lagos, called on stakeholders to work
harmoniously and not at cross purposes in order to find a lasting
solution to the menace of piracy activities in the region.
Speaking further, he said that there was
a need for crimes to be successfully prosecuted, adding that the
prosecution of perpetrators of crimes committed at sea had commenced in
order to deter others.
“We have at no time prosecuted crimes on
our waterways and the security agencies must initiate it. Every person
may give us assistance, but we have a role to play in ensuring that our
waterways are safe and secure,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
The NIMASA DG commended INTERPOL for the initiative, noting that it would engender synergy among government agencies.
He also assured that NIMASA would always
support any initiative that could foster the growth and development of
the maritime sector.
The regional specialised officer for
maritime piracy and the convener of the meeting, Mr. Sunday Okoebor,
bemoaned the spate of criminal activities in the Gulf of Guinea and
blamed it on lack of synergy among the security agencies.
He stated, however, that capacity
development of the law enforcement officers of the various countries in
the region was vital to tackling all forms of illegalities and crimes.
While also calling on all security
agencies to collaborate more, he noted that for INTERPOL to function
appropriately, there must be a fusion centre where all necessary bodies
were present, so that everyone would work collaboratively to eliminate
the problem of bureaucracy, thereby giving way for proper prosecution.
An assistant director from the Ministry
of Justice, Dr. Omotayo Oni, was also quoted in the statement as saying
that the ministry was working hard to ensure that the bill on piracy
and maritime crimes sponsored by NIMASA saw the light of the day, to
stand as a legal framework for the prosecution.
Also at the meeting, were
representatives of the Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Police Force, and
they pledged their support for the growth and development of the
maritime sector in the region.
A bill on piracy and maritime crime had
earlier been put forward by NIMASA, intended to give the agency the
momentum required to deal decisively with all forms of crimes on the
nation’s territorial waterways.
No comments: