NIMASA acquires 17 security vessels, helicopters

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that it has acquired 17 fast intervention vessels and helicopters to fight insecurity on Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

Speaking at the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime (TAAM) Conference on Friday, Director of Maritime Labour at NIMASA, Mr. Ibrahim Jibril assured that the 17 vessels would be arriving in Nigeria by October 2019. He added the helicopters would also be arriving Nigeria by end of the year.

Jibril said that the fast intervention vessels move as far as 50 knots,
and that it would be used to patrol the waters up to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

“We have come up with the blue project where we are creating total domain awareness of the waters in such a manner that there is a collaboration between all the security agencies”

“We have gone to acquire platforms and fast intervention vessels that are coming in by next month, about 17 of them, they are going to be used for apprehending and checking criminalities on our waters”

“These fast intervention vessels move as far as 50 knots, and to be honest with you, this is a very high speed that you cannot find around here at all.
It would be used to patrol the waters up to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)”

“We have also acquired helicopters and we expect them to come in by the end of the year.
They are equipped with gadgets to monitor and intervene from the air, whatever is required to be done on the high seas”

“We have other platforms in terms of motor vehicles.
We have conscripted officers from all these security agencies into one security force, they are undergoing training”

“By first quarter of next year, all incidents of piracy and insecurity would have been warded  off on Nigerian waters”

“As a country, we have achieved a feat by signing the anti piracy bill into law, it is an instrument that has not been seen anywhere before, it would give us a lot of backing to solve the security challenges we are experiencing, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea”

“The business of government in business is to create an enabling environment, and this Act that has been passed would assist us in achieving that”

“NIMASA has come up with a project that is supposed to provide total domain awareness of the maritime industry, we believe that no business can flourish in a situation of insecurity, and you would agree with me that in recent times, the Gulf of Guinea has been tagged as the most dangerous waters in the world” he said.