From Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
The Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has again assured Nigerians and the international maritime community that the Federal Government was leaving no stone unturned in tackling the menace of piracy and other illicit crimes on the nation’s territorial waterways.
According to him, this was demonstrated by the Federal Government’s recent approval for the procurement of three helicopters and 12 fast intervention vessels to ensure coastal and aerial surveillance and patrol of the Nigerian maritime environment by the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA.
Dakuku said: “While acknowledging the fact that piracy is a global problem, which is not peculiar to one continent or country, the need for a concerted and coordinated approach in tackling the menace cannot be overstated.”
He debunked recent reports that piracy was on the increase in the Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea, noting that it was sad that some section of the media were manipulating statistics to the contrary.
The truth, he pointed, out was that the reverse is the case, as piracy has been reduced to the barest minimum.