NIGERIA and 28 other countries on Wednesday called for an international response to challenges posed by piracy and crude oil theft in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) and in the African continent.
The call was made as part of resolutions reached at the end of a two-day International Maritime Conference with the theme, “Optimising International Collaboration for Maritime Security and Sustainable Socio-Economic Development in Africa”, hosted by the Nigeria Navy at Onne, Rivers.
The 36-point communiqué at the end of the conference was signed by Rear Adm. Saidu Garba, Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigeria Navy.
The League of Nations were drawn from Africa, European Union, Brazil, South Korea, China and United States
Nigeria has been taking a leading role for a more secure maritime domain even though it exited the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy list on March 3.
According to the communiqué, 300 delegates and 900 participants from 29 countries, including heads of navies and coastguards in Africa, the EU, Brazil, South Korea, China and United States, among others participated in the conference.
“At the end of the deliberations, 36 draft resolutions were adopted, including that: African countries should identify and prosecute sponsors and collaborators in maritime crimes to serve as deterrence.
“Heads of GoG navies are enjoined to lobby their governments to establish special courts to prosecute cases of piracy, sea robbery and other related offences.
“African states should put in place mechanisms to ensure that resources illegally harvested/exploited in the region, such as stolen crude oil, fish and other resources are confiscated and returned to originating countries.
“This is to ensure speedy dispensation of maritime crimes while emplacing measures to build capacity and sensitise the judiciary on relevant legislations,” it said.
It called on GoG states to ensure the operationalisation of the maritime zones within their respective regions in line with the Yaounde Code of Conduct (YCC) framework.
It also demanded for the development and strengthening of member states surveillance capabilities, to enhance effective information sharing among navies of the GoG.
“As part of their ship renewal initiatives, African nations should leverage the shipbuilding capabilities of member countries, such as Nigeria, to enhance their platform holding.
“African states should carry out flag showing visits with vessels locally built in the GoG to showcase shipbuilding capacity.
“Navies of African states should consider acquisition of dedicated training ships that will be tailored towards their operational needs, particularly at the tactical level.
“African countries should formulate national Blue Economy policies that are uniform in sustainability across the continent,” it added.
The participating countries also called on African states to consider establishing National Marine Spatial Planning Authorities/Agencies as well as the establishment of Integrated National Marine/Maritime databases, among other resolutions.
