Maritime
Safety: NIMASA Losing the War
Director-General-NIMASA-Mr.-Ziakede-Akpobolokemi
In this piece Babalola Yusuf Abiola examines how the nation’s
crude oil are being stolen with impunity, transported through the high sea for
sale in foreign land and how vessels are hijacked in the middle of the sea without
any form of challenge from agencies of government that are to ensure safety in
the country territorial water
Of all the troubles facing the
country, Oil- theft has
been the most challenging of them all as it has caused a significant drain on
the economy of the country, Nigeria loses about
N2.5billion daily, and over N900billion annually to this menace.
Recently, in an interview with
cable network news (CNN), Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-iweala admitted
that Nigeria loses over 150, 000 barrel of crude oil to theft daily, according
to her “We have —
Mexico and Nigeria suffering from this problem, you can check.”
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has also
said Nigeria loses about $1.23 billion (N190 billion) due to drop in crude oil
production in the first quarter of 2013, January to March, caused by the
incessant theft of crude oil.
In a statement issued by the corporation’s acting Group General
Manager, Public Affairs, Tumini Green, the corporation attributed the drop to
incessant crude oil theft and vandalism along the major pipelines within the
Niger Delta.
He said, “On a daily basis, crude oil production during
the period fluctuated between 2.1 and 2.3 million barrels per day (mbpd)
compared with the projected 2.48mbpd.
“Expectedly, this fall between actual production and forecast in first quarter
2013 has resulted in a drop in crude oil revenue of about 1.23 billion dollars
,’’ which should have accrued to the Federation Account.”
The Corporation explained that the NNPC/SPDC JV (Shell
Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture), recently declared a force majeure
on Bonny Crude, due to incessant crude oil theft.
The theft are believed to be done in collusion with top
government and security agents which made transportation out of the country to
an already made market in foreign communities easy.
Admitting the failure of the government and relevant
security agencies to nip in the bud crude oil theft, the minister of finance in
her interview with CNN’s correspondent Christiane Amanpour, called on international community to come to
the rescue of the Nigeria government.
She said, “We
have international people who also buy that stolen oil. We need them to treat
this stolen oil like stolen diamonds, the blood diamonds. Make it blood oil.
Help us so that those people don’t have a market to sell this stuff.”
However, not only crude oil
theft and its transportation to foreign countries go unchecked in the country
territorial water, also hijacking of fuel laden vessels in the middle of the sea
by sea pirates has been an order of the day.
What has been a source of concern for Nigerians and
stakeholders in the sector is the unabated level of impunity in the country
territorial water when there is The Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), the apex maritime agency that has one of its responsibilities to be ensuring safety in the
nation territorial water -that includes checkmating the menace of attack on
ship and theft of crude oil through the use of Nigerian ship.
But, rather than reduce, Pirates’
attacks, hijacking of vessels; transportation of stolen crude oil to foreign
countries, kidnapping of foreigners on the sea for ransoms and other marine
crimes flourishes.
For instance, it was reported
early in February that three crew members of a British flagged cargo ship,
Esther C, were kidnapped about 80 miles offshore. Shortly after, gunmen killed
a Filipino crew member when they attacked a chemical tanker and three days
earlier, some crew men were killed on a vessel that deployed a private armed
team.
There was also the case of a
Russian ship that was reportedly attacked in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and
its captain kidnapped. Recently, pirates hijacked and demanded N200 million ransoms
for the release of six foreigners kidnapped, which was the latest of at least
five attacks recorded on Nigerian waters.
These dare-devil pirates had
also attacked an oil barge in the troubled Niger Delta region, which claimed
the lives of two soldiers and one crew member. The list is endless.
The Nigerian Trawlers Owners
Association, umbrella body for all indigenously owned industrial fishing
companies has its woe tales over this upsurge in the activities of pirates and
sea robbers, saying its members have lost a whopping N118.5billion in the last
eight years.
According to the figures
released by the association’s president, Mr. Joseph Overo it
showed that its members
lost a total of N5billion in 2003, N6billion in 2004, N7.5billion in 2005 and
N12billion in 2006. Other details show that in 2007, members lost N13 billion,
N15billion in 2008 and N17billion in 2009 even as N20billion and N23billion
were lost in 2010 and 2011, respectively, bringing to a total of N118.5billion.
But, in other to fight this
ugly scourge NIMASA recently took delivery of about twelve patrol boats to
fight high sea crimes, these boats are fortified with engines and bodies of the
boats bulletproofed, making them difficult for pirates to target the crew
onboard. Also, the boats were equipped with state-of-art technological
facilities that could do 200 nautical miles before refueling.
The boats: NIMASA Burutu,
NIMASA Port-Harcourt, NIMASA Lagos and NIMASA Warri were specifically built to
withstand any adverse effect and tropical weather, hence their suitability for
the control of piracy and illegal activities on the country’s territorial
waters.
With this procurement, safety
on the Nigerian coastal and territorial waters is expected to be improve but
still Nigeria territorial water is still prone to attacks making a Malaysian-based piracy watchdog, International Maritime Bureau rating
Nigerian waters second most dangerous after Somalia.
Also, In view of the negative
effects of the upsurge in piracy and sea robbery on Nigeria’s maritime domain,
former President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed fears that the high level of
insecurity in Nigeria will continue to inhibit investment in the maritime
industry of the country.
The former president said, “I
want to make an appeal to the Federal Government and the littoral states and a
serious one for that matter, there should be urgent and concerted efforts at
fighting the menace of piracy on Nigerian waters now”, he noted.
Also, United States Consul General
in Nigeria, Mr. Jeffery Hopkins has also raised concerns over the recent
upsurge in sea piracy and robbery on Nigeria’s maritime domain. The diplomat,
who spoke at the Maritime Exhibition and Conference, tagged NIMAREX 2013 noted
that the upsurge in piracy and sea robbery portend negative consequences for
the nation’s economy.
According to the envoy,
“Piracy, sea robbery and other crimes on Nigerian waters have been on the
increase and you can agree with me that this is a disincentive to the expected
inflow of Foreign Direct Investment into Nigeria”
“Ships coming to Nigerian
shores have to move in a convoy to avoid being attacked by these pirates and
robbers and you know that this might likely bring about additional cost of
shipping for goods meant for the Nigerian market”, Hopkins queried.
Meanwhile, a reliable source
has confided in Nigerian compass that hijack and theft of vessel’s especially
oil cargo like others in the past cannot be achieved without the backings of
some powerful Nigerians who are in the business for financial gains. He
described the business of ship hijacking as highly lucrative, explaining that
there were a huge numbers of trained pirates in the country today.
According to him, “I gathered
that once there is a ship to be hijacked, the powerful sponsors get across to
the pirates who then move to get the details about the vessel from the Ministry
of Petroleum Resources, NNPC and then seek support from relevant security
agencies to have a successful operation”.
However, in a telephone
conversation with NIMASA Head of Public Relations, Hajia Lami Tumaka, she said
the agency has all it takes to combat piracy and win the war over them; though
she debunked the allegation that high government officials and security
agencies conspire to give the sea robbers information about vessels to be
hijacked.
She said, “The government has
a political will to fight piracy on the country territorial water and that the
government or security agent conspires with sea robbers are not true,” she
said.
