By Elizabeth ADENUGA
Mr Bayo Oyekan, a ship captain, on Monday appealed to stakeholders to support the Nigerian Navy to check the incidence of piracy on the nation’s waters.
TBI Africa said Oyekan told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the lukewarm attitude of other agencies that were supposed to support the Navy in checking piracy had made the incidence to rise in the Gulf of Guinea.
He commended the efforts of the Nigerian Navy as it inaugurated four ships and two helicopters to fight piracy on the Gulf of Guinea on Thursday.
“With the renewed efforts of the Navy at curbing sea robbery on the Nigerian waters many of the surcharges and the rating of Nigeria as a risky zone by shippers will be removed and the country will be free from insurance surcharge on shipments.
“With the support of the other agencies whose scope it is to provide security and safety on the waters to the Navy, checking the menace that has been a nightmare to importers and shippers will be sustained.
“Let there be collaboration in logistics support from agencies like the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the Nigeria Shippers Council and even the Nigeria Ports Authority to this course,’’ he said.
According to him, the international shipping community and other bodies like the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are looking at Nigeria to take the lead in controlling crime in the Gulf of Guinea where Nigeria and other maritime countries in the sub-region share boundaries on the waters.
He said that the danger in the zone had made shipment to Nigeria costlier than shipment to other countries like Ghana which were less risky to shipment.
