As piracy and other crimes remain high in Nigerian waters, KARIOLA MUSTAPHA examines the country’s current maritime legal framework and how the objectives of the recently inaugurated $195m Deep Blue Project can be actualised

Against the background of last week’s inauguration of the Deep Blue Project, maritime stakeholders have highlighted the need for proper engagement of the assets and collaboration with other African countries to curb crimes on the Gulf of Guinea.

The President Muhammadu Buhari last Thursday, inaugurated the assets of the Deep Blue Project, also known as the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure.

The assets include Command, Control, Communication, Computer, and Intelligence Centre, termed C4i, for intelligence gathering and data collection; 16 armoured vehicles for coastal patrol; and 600 specially trained troops for interdiction, known as Maritime Security Unit.

The sea assets include two special mission vessels and 17 fast interceptor boats, while the air assets comprise two special mission aircraft for surveillance of the country’s exclusive economic zone, three special mission helicopters for search and rescue operations and four unmanned aerial vehicles.

During the launch, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr Bashir Jamoh, said all the investments would be a waste if the offenders were arrested but not properly tried and sentenced where necessary.

Speaking on the country’s maritime legal infrastructure, the Managing Partner, Maritime & Commercial Law Partners, Chief Osuala Nwagbara, told our correspondent that the law Nigeria had before 2019 did not cover the illegal acts on the sea.

He said this was what necessitated the promulgation of the suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Acts in 2019, adding that the law addressed the gap that the country had in its maritime legal framework.

He said, “Before now, piracy, robbery, and kidnapping at sea were not captured in our criminal laws. Therefore, we could not try offenders.

“If you look at the provision of the UNCLOS, that is the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, 1982, Section 101 of that law defined piracy in specific terms. It provided that piracy has to be committed on the high sea outside the jurisdiction of a state. And it must be committed against a ship, an aircraft, person or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state.”

Describing piracy as a grave offence, Nwagbara said, “On conviction, the offender is liable to life imprisonment, fine of about N50m and restitution to the owner or forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria whatever the person has gained from the commission of the crime.”

An international maritime lawyer and Chair, Zoe Maritime Resources, Mrs Oritsematosan Edodo-Emore, also argued that Nigeria currently has the legal infrastructure to try and prosecute offenders.

She said, “With this in place, Nigeria is able to try pirates. Nigeria is taking steps in the right direction, combating a menace it acknowledges is happening, not only outside of Nigeria’s waters but also generally in the Gulf of Guinea.”

“Now, after the launch of these assets (Deep Blue Project), our concerns should be that they are properly engaged, both the physical infrastructure and the legal infrastructure.”

The President, African Women in Maritime, Mrs Jean Anishere (SAN), described the Deep Blue Project as laudable, saying, “It is our government’s effort to combat crime such as piracy in our territorial waters and armed robbery at sea.

She said, “It is also a brilliant initiative that there is the SPOMO Act on ground, which will enable effective execution of the Deep Blue Project.

“However, whilst one appreciates the fact that the project also extends to the curbing of crime in the Gulf of Guinea, it is, therefore, advisable that in order to achieve a wider successful execution of this huge capital intensive project, Nigeria should solicit the collaboration of the African countries within the region of the GoG.

“This is because combating crime in the GoG region cannot be achieved by one country alone. Nigeria should lead and further explain the need for a similar policy such as our SPOMO Act 2019, in order to achieve a uniform law for ease of execution of the Deep Blue Project.”

According to Anishere, the SPOMO Act needs to be amended because of some crucial typo errors, which, if not corrected immediately, will impede the good intention of the draftsmen.

“Our government should also endeavour to report promptly and correctly the activities recorded during the execution of the Deep Blue Project, particularly within the GoG region, so that the international community will appreciate our efforts and report appropriately on their relevant database,” she said.

A shipowner, Mr Aminu Umar, told our correspondent that the Nigerian exclusive economic zone had been a risky terrain to do business, but that the inauguration of the project signalled some relief.

He said, “Let me congratulate NIMASA and the Federal Government for this effort. We are very excited that this equipment will be deployed. It will now be safer to do maritime business in this country and in West Africa at large.

“Before now, doing business on the Gulf of Guinea has been very challenging. We know that we have the highest number of piracy in the world. But now, we expect a better business terrain.”