Delegates at the Global Maritime Security Conference (GMSC) rose yesterday from the three days engagement from Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th October, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, with a firm declaration to globally criminalise acts of insecurity and proceeds from illegal maritime activities from the zone as was with the case of the “Blood Diamonds”
In
a communiqué, termed Abuja Declaration on the Gulf of Guinea (GoG)
crisis at the end of the conference, which was attended by delegates
from about 80 countries, the conferees also agreed to constitute a
“GMSC expert working group” to drive the implementation of the
decisions arising from the gathering in liaison with ECOWAS, ECCAS,
ICC, and other international partners.
The
communiqué session chaired by the Minister of State for
Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, and read by
Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in front of about 2000
participants from nearly 80 countries, resolved that “Gulf of
Guinea States and the international community should put mechanisms
in place to ensure that resources that are illegally
harvested/explored in the GoG, including stolen oil and Illegal
Unreported and Unregulated Fishery, are intentionally banned as was
the case with the ‘blood diamonds’”, the communique said.
The
conference called for collaboration among the navies, coast guards,
and maritime authorities of countries in the Gulf of Guinea and other
continental and international maritime nations. It said countries in
the Gulf of Guinea should intensify maritime capacity and
infrastructure building efforts to push the objectives effectively.
According
to the communique, “GoG States should explore the possibility of
designated maritime courts to handle cases of sea robbery, piracy and
other maritime offences to ensure quick dispensation of cases in
addition to capacity building and sensitisation of judiciary on
crucial relevant legislation.”
It
further urged the GoG states to put more efforts to implement various
agreed strategies at the continental, regional and national levels.
“GoG States with the support of regional organisations like the
ECOWAS, ECCAS, ICC and relevant international organisations should
continue to ratify and fully domesticate the provisions of the
relevant international conventions including UNCLOS 1982, SUA and
Port States Measures Agreement.”
It
also said, “GoG States should strengthen, including funding,
national, zonal and regional maritime domain awareness centres to
enhance information sharing and coordination”.
The
GoG States were encouraged to sustain regular meeting of heads of
states, heads of navies/coast guards and other maritime enforcement
agencies on issues of maritime security for mutual benefit. In
addition, relevant regional maritime agencies, industry
experts/representatives were charged to come up with informed policy
decisions on maritime security and related issues.
The
conference equally noted, “GoG States should engage in maritime
spatial planning of coastal and urban areas to ensure that maritime
security vulnerabilities are not created particularly in proximity to
critical maritime infrastructure.
“GoG
States should explore opportunities for maritime law enforcement
through targeted engagement with coastal and fishing communities to
support maritime security efforts.”
Speaking
during an international press conference to close the meeting, the
Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, emphasised the need for prompt
actions to realise the implementation of the recommendations. Dakuku
said the proposed expert working group should be established in the
next few months.
Earlier
at a press briefing, Richard Morris of the United Kingdom Maritime
Domain Awareness (MDA) Programme, an arm of the British Ministry of
Defence, called for teamwork among countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
Morris called for deliberate efforts to dismantle legal,
institutional, and territorial impediments to joint security actions
in the region.
He
noted that the British government was prepared to support countries
in the region to achieve their maritime security aspirations. Earlier
speakers from France, Demark, United States, Japan, the European
Union, and a host of other countries pledged their readiness to
contribute to the security efforts in the Gulf of Guinea.
The
GoG conference with the theme, “Managing and Securing our Waters,”
was convened by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the Nigerian
Navy, and NIMASA. It was aimed at finding solution to the problem of
maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.
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