The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla has disclosed that limited support from community leaders is emboldening maritime criminals in the country, knowing that they may not be reported or caught.
Despite this, the Naval Chief said a total of 4,606 suspects were arrested for various maritime crimes between 2015 and 2024, adding that the arrests were carried out in the communities within the riverine areas.
Ogalla made this known while presenting the 3rd Distinguished Personality Lecture at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS) at the University of Ibadan on the lecture, “Role of the Nigerian Navy in Combatting Maritime Crimes for enhanced Blue Economy in Nigeria”.
Highlighting the the strong commitment of the Navy to ensuring a secure environment necessary for the development for the blue economy, Ogalla disclosed that the service was already pushing for the power to prosecute offenders in the core areas of its mandates.
According to him, “Some community leaders justify the criminal behaviour of these criminals. This complicates maritime law enforcement efforts and poses a significant challenge to maritime security.
“It also underscores the urgent need for comprehensive, society-wide solutions to address root causes of maritime criminality, which threatens the successful exploitation of Blue economy potentials in Nigeria.”
He called for the establishment of special courts dedicated to maritime crimes to ensure effective and efficient justice delivery, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for law enforcement.
“The speedy prosecution of maritime crimes will improve data collection and analysis which are crucial for policy and legislative formulation in combating maritime crimes, for the development of the blue economy”, the Naval Chief said.
While noting that transportation along the waterways generates approximately $1.2 billion, he however noted that the evolving “dynamics of maritime crimes could negatively affect the prospects, hence the need for pragmatic solutions to address the threats”.
Listing non-diligent prosecution of maritime crimes as one of the challenges facing the navy in combating maritime crimes, Ogalla stated, “The Nigerian Navy and other law enforcement agencies have made commendable efforts in arrest and prosecution of maritime offenders.
“However, inadequacies such as prolonged trial periods are being exploited by criminals. This has led to protracted litigation and several abandoned vessels across Nigerian Navy Bases.
“Between 2015 to date, 250 vessels arrested were handed over to prosecuting agencies, yet only 82 have been successfully prosecuted, leaving a balance of 168 still in Nigerian Navy custody.
“In the last six years, the Nigerian Navy has lost a significant number of cases for non-diligent prosecution of maritime suspects by these prosecuting agencies. Likewise, over N450 million for legal services are provided for these private lawyers at the expense of essential infrastructure for the service to combat the maritime crimes.
“These waterways provide vital access to 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states and connect 6 neighbouring countries. Nigeria’s maritime domain also has the most fertile hydrocarbon provinces in the world, underscoring its strategic importance.”
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Professor Peter Olapegba stated, “A secure maritime domain is essential for the protection of our territorial integrity, the safeguarding of our economic interests, and the well-being of the millions of Nigerians who depend on the sea for their livelihoods.
“As strategic hub for knowledge creation and re-creation in cognate areas of peace, security and humanitarian studies, we are particularly concerned about the rise in maritime threats, including oil theft, illegal fishing, trafficking of drugs and weapons and piracy in particular.
“These illicit activities not only undermine our national security but also command potential to stifle economic growth and development along our coasts,” he added.
The Director, Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, Professor Ruth Adio-Moses for her part, maintained that the significance of “Maritime security cannot be overstated, especially for a nation like “ours blessed with a vast coastline and abundant maritime resources”.
She added that the Chief of the Naval Staff was invited as part of the ongoing town-gown synergy towards proffering solutions to the myriads of problems facing the maritime space.