Ministry seeks collaboration with security agents

Following the spate of attacks on Nigerian fishermen on the country’s territorial waters, the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development has said that it is collaborating with the relevant security agencies to curb the menace.

The minister of agriculture and rural development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, stated this while addressing the just concluded 2nd Stakeholders Meeting on Repositioning the Fisheries Sub-sector in Abuja. The minister said the ministry had also ordered for six patrol boats that will boost the effort of security agencies to help fight sea pirates.

“The Nigerian marine waters are plagued with almost daily attacks by armed robbers on our shrimp trawling vessels, leading to killings and maiming of crew members, abduction of key officers and demand for huge ransom for their release, seizure of vessels for days leading to loss of fishing days, and the removal of fishing/communication equipment and catches. These attacks may lead to the complete collapse of the fishing industry.”

A total of 271 reported cases of attacks on vessels operating in the Nigerian territorial waters occurred between February 2009 and September, 2013. He stressed that the economic implication is huge as it has led to a drastic reduction in the number of fishing fleet from about 230 vessels to only 119 vessels, with only ten companies currently in operation.

“We have ordered for six passenger/patrol boats to improve surveillance. We are also pursuing greater inter-agency collaboration with security agencies especially the Navy, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigeria Custom Service, Nigeria Port Authority, and inspection agencies. We have proposed a joint action plan with the Navy under which a joint secretariat will be established in the Federal Department of Fisheries, to oversee all issues of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Nigeria’s territorial waters,” the minister stated

Meanwhile, stakeholders at the meeting took the opportunity to highlight some of the challenges facing the players in the sector, and sought the ministry’s intervention.
National president, Fish Dealers Association, Alhaja Atoyibi, said the big companies are stifling the small scale players as they had become importers, distributors and retailers of fish products at the same time.  Atoyibi argued that it was wrong for the importers to also serve as retailers.

In his own comments, national president, Nigeria Trawlers Owners Association, NITOA, Joseph Overo, appealed to the government to wade into the incessant levies collected from his members by the Nigeria Ports Authority at the Kirikiri Terminal I and II, who had also threatened to eject them from the port.