The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that the agency will begin to prosecute pirates under the new Anti-piracy Law of Nigeria
The Director-General of the NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said on Tuesday in Lagos that NIMASA was committed to collaborate with relevant agencies and stakeholders for the security of the country’s maritime domain.
Speaking at the official handover of pirates arrested by the Nigerian Navy for prosecution, Jamoh noted that the 10 pirates had on May 15 attacked and boarded a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire and directed it towards the Nigerian waters.
A statement by NIMASA on Tuesday in Lagos said that Jamoh, who was represented at the ceremony by the agency’s head of Legal Services, Mr. Victor Egejuru, disclosed that the pirates were arrested by the Nigerian Navy, which dispatched a ship to intercept the vessel following a tip off.
“The prosecution of the pirates will be the first trial of bandits arrested in international waters under the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act signed into law in June last year by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The law made Nigeria the first in West and Central Africa to have a distinct antipiracy legislation,” he said.
Jamoh attributed the successful operation that led to the arrest of the pirates and rescue of the ship and its crew to collaboration between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy.
He said that the agency would continue to work with relevant security agencies in order to achieve its goal of eradicating piracy and all forms of illegality on the Nigerian waters.
“We have just witnessed the handover of pirates. This is as a result of the robust collaboration between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy.
“There has been a lot of synergy between NIMASA and the Navy with regard to the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Actm” he said.
Jamoh assured that with the anti-piracy law, there was ample legal framework to prosecute pirates and other perpetrators of maritime offences in the country to bring the menace to the barest minimum.
He said that the current management of NIMASA would focus on three main areas, namely, maritime security, safety, and shipping development in pursuit of a robust maritime domain for the country.
GIK/APA