By Oko Ebuka

Nigeria has once again recorded the highest number of piracy attacks on vessels in the first quarter of 2019 in global statistics with a total number of 14 attacks.

According to the report released by International Maritime Bureau, IMB, on piracy attacks on vessels in the Q1, January – March, 2019, it shows that a grand total of 38 attacks occurred globally with Nigeria leading the chart with 14 attacks, followed by Venezuela with 4 attacks; while Ghana, China and Indonesia recorded 3 attacks each as other countries recorded 1 attack each.

The report further show that there is reduction on piracy attack on Nigerian vessels compared to Q1 2018 which recorded 22 attacks within the same period in 2018.

It also revealed in the report that a total of 14 piracy attack on global vessels occurred in January, while February and March recorded 12 attacks respectively.

In regional incidents, the report showed that Africa recorded the highest number of attacks with 22 incidents, America with 8, South-East Asia with 4, East Asia with 3, and Indian sub-continent with 1 attack.

According to the report also, a total of 6 actual attacks took place on boarded Nigerian vessels with 3 anchored and another 3 steaming, with zero highjack, 1 attempted attack and 7 fired upon with 4 incidents occurring in Lagos Sea alone.

The decline in piracy attacks has been influenced by the efforts of Nigerian Maritime Administrative and Safety Agency, NIMASA, in collaboration with Nigerian Navy, NN, to end piracy operations within the Nigerian waters as federal government procured security gadgets for fight against piracy and other illegal activities on the countries territorial waters.

Recall that DG, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside recently expressed the Agency’s desire to work with other stakeholders and hasten the action on the passage of the Anti-Piracy and Other related Crimes at Sea into law to enable Nigerian vessels have free movement at seas.

He also stated that Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to its leadership role in the war on piracy and maritime crimes will be extended in all the region of Gulf of Guinea, an area wholly considered the global challenging maritime crime base in Africa.

By Oko Ebuka

Despite the efforts to stabilize the swift movements of trucks in and out of wharf in order to improve the ease of doing business in the maritime sector the situation is still getting worse as the securities of Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, have been accused of collecting bribe and promoting favoritism against the ethics of call-up system.

In an exclusive chat with Vanguard Maritime Report, a stakeholder of Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, Goddy England, disclosed that NPA security personnel don’t welcome the idea of call-up number system as it prevents them from collecting bribes from truck owners.

According to Goddy, “NPA security department don’t welcome call-up number as they are collecting bribe up to N5, 000 from creek road to the gate.

“Some people pay their way to go without call-up. They don’t check their manifest because of the bribe given to them. Once they give them some huge amount of money for the truck to go, the following day the truck will get delivery. You will see some people indulging in forgery and still make their way to the port at the end of the day.

“But we that follow the normal procedures will be there for three to four weeks so we are losing. My drivers are complaining because they will be on the road before getting to Apapa. Now they are in Lilypond since two weeks as it has not come to their turn because it has not being stamped and signed but some people will go in today and get it today. The thing supposed to be normal process, first come first serve.

“With the huge amount of money we are spending now, N50, 000,- N60,000 for container, at the end of the day the truck will still be three weeks waiting for stamping. They have points, if you get to this point you pay, before you get to Apapa you will spend up to N30, 000.

“If really they are working, all the trucks will enter Lilypond and from there pick off”, he added.

In addition to this, one of the truck drivers, Geoffrey Nwosu also told Vanguard Maritime Report that it takes up to 2-3 weeks before getting their trucks cleared from Lilypond due to delay in the call-up number.

“There is always a delay in call-up number and it takes us 2-3 weeks before gaining access in Lilypond”, Nwosu complained.

On the issue of sticker, Goddy England lamented on the N11, 000 fee charges for minimum standard sticker by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, which adds no value to their truck business as they are always harassed by NPA security agencies.

In his words, “we pay N11, 000 for sticker for over two years now. What is the safety of the sticker? They claimed it is for minimum standard but we can’t see anything standard about it as we keep on suffering from the harsh conditions within and outside the port.

“You can calculate the number of trucks with this sticker and see the huge amount of money they are collecting from us you will be surprised”, he concluded.