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| L-R: Director, Shipping Development, Capt. Warredi Enisuoh; Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Barr. Calistus Nwabueze Obi; Director General, Dr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi and Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, Capt. Ezekiel Bala Agaba at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) press conference in Lagos yesterday. |
...Says they’re fabricated by piracy kingpins
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi has dismissed reports that one of its consultants; Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Limited has purchased seven Norwegian gun boats from Norway.
The Director General, while addressing a press conference in Lagos yesterday dismissed the media report as rumors which he said were fabricated by organised piracy kingpins whose vessel had been impounded by the NIMASA in recent times.
Akpobolokemi said that the purported war ships and gunboats were some of the patrol boats that had been acquired by NIMASA and since commissioned by the agency for the patrol of the waterways by the Nigerian Navy.He explained that, the boats that were acquired by NIMASA and which had already been in use are the same crafts that are now being referred to as war ships by the international press.
He stressed further that the no weapon came with the boats, the boats were bought ordinarily, and it is the Nigerian Navy that has mounted their guns on these boats because they are in charge of them.
"Please let us avoid rumors, we are in a digital age and age of information, many journalists including senate committees and different lawmakers have been taken round on the boats that are being talked about, at the groundbreaking ceremony performed by the President at the proposed University and Shipyard, three of these boats were also commissioned with the navy guns mounted on them, with the navy in charge of the boats"
The DG said that the rumor was as a result of the handy work of piracy groups who now find it difficult to operate on Nigerian waters. "The complaint is that we are doing the job and they are not satisfied by it" he said.
While defending the Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL) on the boat acquisition, he said that the Act of the agency allows it to enter into business deals with any organization or individual. He also argued that the owners of the company have not committed any offense by going into business with the government.
"You can write to Corporate Affairs Commission and demand to know the owners of these companies, in any case, there is nowhere in the Nigerian law that it is stated that Mr. 'A' will do contract with a company and Mr. 'B' cannot, go and find out the owners of the company, and even if you find out, what offense did they commit in going into business venture"
"Our laws permit that in our Act, that NIMASA in furtherance of its functions can partner any person or group of persons and any corporate organization, rumors should give way for objective facts verifiable" Akpobolokemi stated.
"The anxiety of some people is that it is no longer business as usual, that is why people come under all sorts of names and give us bad names, arguments and negative publicities in the press will not make any meaning to us or sway us. I am happy to let everyone know that members of this management have serious, unusual thick skins", he boasted.
He said that the activities of oil thieves and pirates on Nigerian waters, especially within the Lagos area have dropped.
"Many people are inducing the media, because their vessels are in our captivity, they cannot operate their illegal business as usual, the oil theft is coming down", he stated.
According to the Director General, NIMASA had been able to achieve full domain awareness of its maritime environment, utilising both technology and personnel to attain that feat.
He explained that the NIMASA Satellite Surveillance Centre launched last June had been very crucial to the successes achieved by the agency in terms of providing intelligence in the fight against piracy and other illicit crimes on the waterways.
Justifying the achievement of NIMASA in its anti-piracy efforts, “it is now very difficult for anybody to attempt a hijack or piracy incidents around the Nigerian maritime domain successfully as the Agency will get the intelligence before the attack is even launched.
“I challenge anyone of you here who can mention one hijack of a ship that has occurred in the last one year between the Lagos waters and Republic of Benin. Remember, Nigeria controls about 60 per cent of maritime traffic in West Africa, do you think it is by coincidence or that the criminals just repented and this was not planned?”
…The Director General said the primary interest of NIMASA was to provide a safe maritime domain and that the agency had achieved this through the Satellite Surveillance Centre, upgrade of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) and continuous inter-agency relations with the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force and the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.
Akpobolokemi observed that in the process of fighting crime on the water ways, a lot would be said against NIMASA.
Apart from these achievements, the NIMASA boss said that the agency has also recorded appreciable success in its National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), even as he said that N20Billion has so far been expended on the programme between year 2011 and 2015.
He said that about two thousand five hundred cadets have been trained by NIMASA without the State Government supports.
"Without looking at records, I can tell you that from 2011 to what the agency will possibly spend in 2015 cannot be anything less than N20billion"
"By 15th January, we will be paying another round of school fees" he saidhttp://shippingposition.com.ng/article/nimasa-dg-akpobolokemi-dismisses-tompolo%E2%80%99s-gunboats-acquisition-reports
The Director General, while addressing a press conference in Lagos yesterday dismissed the media report as rumors which he said were fabricated by organised piracy kingpins whose vessel had been impounded by the NIMASA in recent times.
Akpobolokemi said that the purported war ships and gunboats were some of the patrol boats that had been acquired by NIMASA and since commissioned by the agency for the patrol of the waterways by the Nigerian Navy.He explained that, the boats that were acquired by NIMASA and which had already been in use are the same crafts that are now being referred to as war ships by the international press.
He stressed further that the no weapon came with the boats, the boats were bought ordinarily, and it is the Nigerian Navy that has mounted their guns on these boats because they are in charge of them.
"Please let us avoid rumors, we are in a digital age and age of information, many journalists including senate committees and different lawmakers have been taken round on the boats that are being talked about, at the groundbreaking ceremony performed by the President at the proposed University and Shipyard, three of these boats were also commissioned with the navy guns mounted on them, with the navy in charge of the boats"
The DG said that the rumor was as a result of the handy work of piracy groups who now find it difficult to operate on Nigerian waters. "The complaint is that we are doing the job and they are not satisfied by it" he said.
While defending the Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL) on the boat acquisition, he said that the Act of the agency allows it to enter into business deals with any organization or individual. He also argued that the owners of the company have not committed any offense by going into business with the government.
"You can write to Corporate Affairs Commission and demand to know the owners of these companies, in any case, there is nowhere in the Nigerian law that it is stated that Mr. 'A' will do contract with a company and Mr. 'B' cannot, go and find out the owners of the company, and even if you find out, what offense did they commit in going into business venture"
"Our laws permit that in our Act, that NIMASA in furtherance of its functions can partner any person or group of persons and any corporate organization, rumors should give way for objective facts verifiable" Akpobolokemi stated.
"The anxiety of some people is that it is no longer business as usual, that is why people come under all sorts of names and give us bad names, arguments and negative publicities in the press will not make any meaning to us or sway us. I am happy to let everyone know that members of this management have serious, unusual thick skins", he boasted.
He said that the activities of oil thieves and pirates on Nigerian waters, especially within the Lagos area have dropped.
"Many people are inducing the media, because their vessels are in our captivity, they cannot operate their illegal business as usual, the oil theft is coming down", he stated.
According to the Director General, NIMASA had been able to achieve full domain awareness of its maritime environment, utilising both technology and personnel to attain that feat.
He explained that the NIMASA Satellite Surveillance Centre launched last June had been very crucial to the successes achieved by the agency in terms of providing intelligence in the fight against piracy and other illicit crimes on the waterways.
Justifying the achievement of NIMASA in its anti-piracy efforts, “it is now very difficult for anybody to attempt a hijack or piracy incidents around the Nigerian maritime domain successfully as the Agency will get the intelligence before the attack is even launched.
“I challenge anyone of you here who can mention one hijack of a ship that has occurred in the last one year between the Lagos waters and Republic of Benin. Remember, Nigeria controls about 60 per cent of maritime traffic in West Africa, do you think it is by coincidence or that the criminals just repented and this was not planned?”
…The Director General said the primary interest of NIMASA was to provide a safe maritime domain and that the agency had achieved this through the Satellite Surveillance Centre, upgrade of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) and continuous inter-agency relations with the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force and the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.
Akpobolokemi observed that in the process of fighting crime on the water ways, a lot would be said against NIMASA.
Apart from these achievements, the NIMASA boss said that the agency has also recorded appreciable success in its National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), even as he said that N20Billion has so far been expended on the programme between year 2011 and 2015.
He said that about two thousand five hundred cadets have been trained by NIMASA without the State Government supports.
"Without looking at records, I can tell you that from 2011 to what the agency will possibly spend in 2015 cannot be anything less than N20billion"
"By 15th January, we will be paying another round of school fees" he saidhttp://shippingposition.com.ng/article/nimasa-dg-akpobolokemi-dismisses-tompolo%E2%80%99s-gunboats-acquisition-reports
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