Nigeria is working to fully operationalise the Combined Maritime Task Force to strengthen efforts against piracy, crude oil theft, drug trafficking and arms smuggling in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, disclosed this through the Chief of Defence Policy and Plans, Air Vice Marshal Francis Edosa, at the Third Maritime Security Symposium in Lagos.
Oluyede said the Armed Forces of Nigeria was preparing to deploy Nigerian Navy assets assigned to the task force as part of the country’s commitment to regional maritime security.
He said the Gulf of Guinea remained vital to Africa’s economy through trade, fisheries, energy and transportation, but criminal and terrorist networks continued to exploit the maritime space for piracy, trafficking and illegal fishing.
The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, represented by Maj. Gen. Olufemi Akinjobi, urged more countries to join the task force, noting that insecurity, including terrorism, was being fuelled by the movement of drugs and weapons through the region.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, represented by Rear Admiral Abubakar Mustapha, said the symposium would review existing maritime security frameworks, including the Yaounde Architecture, to improve the task force’s effectiveness. He added that the Navy was working with the NDLEA to intercept vessels carrying illicit drugs and had recently helped destroy more than 516kg of narcotics.
The United States Consul General in Lagos, Brandon Hudspeth, said piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea had declined significantly and Nigeria had been removed from major piracy watchlists, while urging continued vigilance. NNPC Limited’s Chief Interface Officer, Dahiru Sani Gwarzo, said the task force had also strengthened information sharing among security agencies and could help tackle crude oil theft in Nigerian waters.
