Ibas told a symposium organised as part of an ongoing joint sea exercise tagged ‘OBANGAME Express’ on Tuesday that the number of vessels arrested in 2018 was lower than 37 and 45 arrests recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Speaking through the Naval Chief of Policy and Plans, Rear Admiral Beegroy Ibe-Enwo, who represented him at the symposium said: “Within the past three years, over 80 errant vessels had been arrested for various acts of illegality. MT TECNE and MT NIPAL were caught in the act stealing crude oil from the crude oil loading facilities in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
“Suffice to state that the Nigerian Navy arrested a total of 30 vessels in 2018 for involvement in various forms of illegality in the nation’s maritime domain.
“This indicates on the face value a downward trend when compared with 37 and 45 arrests recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively.”
According to Ibas, these arrests have served as deterrence and helped to support a more buoyant national economy.
“For instance, NNPC data indicate that crude oil losses from pipelines reduced from N51.28 billion in 2015 to N4.17 billion in 2017,” the Naval chief said.
He said the Nigerian Navy, as at December 2018, handed over 247 maritime crime cases to prosecuting agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) of which 51 had been successfully prosecuted.
He noted that the Nigerian Navy’s seamless collaboration with related agencies has helped to create effective deterrence to criminals through the arrest and prosecution of various criminals.
Ibas disclosed that the Nigerian Navy and the Federal Department of Fisheries had concluded plans to acquire dedicated vessels to fight illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the country.
The report by Nigeria’s Ships and Ports, a specialized maritime publication on Wednesday, quoted Ibas as saying that there is collaboration between the navy and maritime stakeholders in the country and regional forces in addressing the worsening security situation in the Gulf of Guinea.
The report added that Ibas acknowledged the contributions of allied nations, including the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and France for their footprints of support which have been eloquent towards encouraging and bolstering domestic and regional collaboration in practical terms and on sustainable basis.