With the heightening militancy in the Niger Delta, a group, the
Nigerian Merchant Navy Coastal Defence Force has sent a letter to
President Muhammadu Buhari seeking recognition and deployment of its 50,
000 personnel for complementary role of achieving enhanced maritime
security in the country.
The group said it was ready to assist to
check importation of illegal and sophisticated weapons through sea by
kidnappers and militants and offer protection to the local maritime
asset.
Speaking in Abuja yesterday, leader of the group, Commodore
Ichukwu Agaba, said a letter for recognition was also dispatched to the
senate and the federal ministry of Justice in 2015, seeking for legal
framework and empowerment for them to offer roles in protection of the
waterways.
He noted that the group had come up with strategies and
was ready to put in tremendous action towards total tackling of illegal
oil bunkering activities in the coastal region.
According
to him, some personnel had already been deployed to some coastal states
to confront the security challenges there but were still waiting for
official approval of the government.
Agaba noted that
establishment of the security and safety group was a follow-up to the
introduction of the international ship and port facility security code
by the International Maritime Organization in 2001.
He said that
IMO mandated, after the 2001 terror attack in the United States of
America, that all countries that have access to both ocean and sea must
establish their Merchant Navy Security and Safety Corps to provide
security to international ship and port for safety of the maritime
industry.
Source:Today
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