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 in checking the importation of illegal and sophisticated weapons through the sea by kidnappers and militants and offering 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 the 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.
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