The Gulf of Guinea recorded about 228 incidents of piracy and armed robbery on sea in 2018, according to the Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa.
According to the Executive Director of the centre, Naval Capt. Rtd. Dr. Kamal Deen-Ali, even though the figures were a slight improvement over that of the previous year, abductions for ransom and kidnappings increased, indicating that human lives are now more at risk than ever.
Dr. Kamal Deen-Ali added that, the Gulf of Guinea has proven to be a target zone for pirates and armed robbers because of the general insecurity in the region that has extended onto the maritime domain, which is far more lucrative.
He said the Niger Delta enclave continues to be a breeding ground for well-equipped maritime criminals and this would remain so, if the area continues to be ungovernable.
“That enclave continues to still be the highest supplier of pirates or piracy incidents in the region.
So as long as the Niger Delta still remains unstable and ungovernable then there is an area that has people that have got the skills and ability to conduct crime and also have a way of evading security forces in Nigeria and for that matter, their crime will spread.”
He also called for a holistic approach to tackling maritime security to include both land and sea.
He said improving the social-economic welfare of the society is so vital in mitigating the growth of alleged militia group involved in the criminal acts.
“Some of those concerns are creating employment, giving opportunities to the youth, raising people’s standard of living, making sure that as a country, we never have the fracture existing in our country where crime will be something that is consolidated,” he recommended.