20 August 2015, Lagos – The Senior Regional Vice President of ASIS International, a global organisation for security professionals, Mrs. Victoria Ekhomu, has said Nigeria can do more to reduce the incidences of piracy on its waters.
In an interview with our correspondent, she said that the security of the Gulf of Guinea of which Nigeria has a giant share had become important following the shift in the piracy trend from Somalia to the region.
She said, “Nigeria can do more to reduce the piracy situation. It was Somalia that was well known for piracy but it has moved to the Gulf of Guinea. We just need to utilise various strategies to curb it as it affects the growth of our economy.
“Our ability to move our crude, which is our mainstay into the international market, is reduced; even the amount oil companies realise from the mining of crude is determined by piracy.
“There have been so many leakages in the economy due to the activities of pirates, some of whom may be the multinationals themselves. The result is the revenue government derives from oil is affected.”
Ekhomu said the issue of maritime security would be addressed by the Chief of Naval Staff at a conference and exhibition being hosted by ASIS International in Lagos next week.
She said solutions and strategies on how to curb its menace on Nigerian waters and allow for safe movement in the Niger Delta region would be discussed.
She said, “Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has made Nigeria notorious; so, we thought it was apt to address it with a security conference and exhibitions of the various technologies that could be used to address it.
“The issue of insecurity is not peculiar to the maritime industry; it is also a problem for the oil and gas sector and affects oil mining. In fact, everything bothering on security as it affects all the sectors of the economy will be dealt with.”
– Punch
