Despite efforts by the federal government to reduce the cases of piracy and banditry in Nigeria’s territorial waters, the coast of Nigeria is now described as the new Haven for piracy in the world.
This is according to latest report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB)
Before now, global concern had been on the gulf of Eden operated by Somalian pirates.
Now, the gulf of guinea which includes Nigeria’s territorial waters have witnessed many cases of piracy, armed robbery and theft.
According to the 2019 Q3 international Maritime bureau report, out of the 9 ships fired upon, eight were off Nigeria’s coast.
The IMB noted that crew kidnappings for ransom taking place around the world have occurred in the Gulf of Guinea region, in seven separate incidents.
In 2018, Nigeria experienced an increase in piracy attacks, particularly off the Niger Delta, source to offshore oil production.
Out Of the 156 reported incidents, 57 of them occurred in the Gulf of Guinea in 2018 and 41 happened in Nigerian waters.
2019 started off with an attack off the coast of Benin on January 2 when a Panamanian-flagged fuel tank owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) was assaulted by pirates at around 55 nautical miles off the coast of Cotonou.
The forecast for 2019 is that piracy might continue to increase if the socio-economic root causes are not addressed, and the security framework is not improved by the regional states and the international community.
