Crew Kidnapped from Liberian Flagged Tanker Offshore Lagos

Armed pirates have reportedly kidnapped 13 seafarers from a Liberian-flagged product tanker in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa, continuing a rise in attacks on vessels in the world’s most dangerous piracy hot spot.

The Curcacao Trader was approached by eight armed individuals aboard a single speedboat and boarded 232 nautical miles southwest of Lagos, Friday, July 17, 2020. Among those abducted are seven Russian nationals, according to the Russian embassy in Nigeria. The other five crew members taken from the ship are believed to be Ukranian.

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Source: liberianobserver.com

Troops deactivate 25 illegal refineries, impound 342,000 ltrs of AGO in South-South

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Abuja, Aug. 6, 2020 The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Delta Safe, discovered and deactivated 25 illegal refineries and impounded 342,000 litres of illegally refined AGO in the South-South in the last two weeks.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, disclosed this while giving updates on military operations across on Thursday in Abuja.

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Source: naija247news.com

Esscom needs own aircraft, says air operations chief

By KRISTY INUS

KOTA KINABALU: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) needs its own aircraft to strengthen air patrols, especially within the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSzone).

Esscom Air Operations chief of staff Brig Gen Ayub Khan Mohd Khan said having air assets was vital to ensure monitoring by air could be carried out more effectively to curb cross-border crimes in hot spots and routes used as staging points by cross-border criminals.

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Source: thestar.com.my

Troops raid pirates, militants camp, kill six in Bayelsa

The Defence Headquarters says the troops of Operation DELTA SAFE on Tuesday in Bayelsa State raided pirates and militants’ camp sand Kidnappers’ hideouts, eliminating six criminals.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

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Source: theeagleonline.com.ng

The hidden face of the war in Cabo Delgado

By Centro para Democracie e Desenvolvimento (CDD)

The establishment of the terrorist groups al-Shabab and the Islamic State with claims to establish the Islamic Law, the corporate interests of the oil industry and the lobby of Erik Prince, a former operative of the American military elite, now at the head of a private business proposal to pacify Cabo Delgado, are considered so far by academics, press and the civil society as the motivations explaining the armed insurgency in the potentially richest province of Mozambique.

By far, heavy drug trafficking and the illegal extraction of resources are framed in the equation. However, as documented by international reports and frequent police seizures, the coast of Cabo Delgado has been an important drug corridor in East Africa since the 1990s, a position recently expanded after Tanzania and Kenya repressed the trafficking networks, pushing them into Mozambican waters.

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Source: defenceweb.co.za

Nigeria: Tackling Resurgence of Militancy, Sea Robbery

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that the recently flagged off Exercise Calm Waters 11 has recorded some gains in tackling the resurgence of militancy and sea robbery off Nigerian waters, up to the Exclusive Economic Zone

Violent attacks against ships and their crews have risen in 2020, with global figure of 77 seafarers taken hostage or kidnapped for ransom since January. This was disclosed by the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report.

According to the bureau, the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), off West Africa is increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping, accounting for just over 90 per cent of maritime kidnappings worldwide. Meanwhile ship hijackings are at their lowest since 1993.

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Source: allafrica.com

Yaounde Code of Conduct taking shape in the Gulf of Guinea

Security professionals in the Gulf of Guinea know that if they want to spot criminals in the open water, the best place to look is along a maritime border.

Historically, this has been the space where pirates, illegal fishermen and traffickers felt safest knowing that, if confronted, they could flee into another country’s waters.

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Source: defenceweb.co.za

PNG police arrest piracy suspects

PNG media reports that on Friday 31st July, three suspected ‘pirates’ were arrested after a failed attempt to rob a vessel in Milne Bay.

Following a tip off to police that a ship approacking the Kanakope Passage was to be boarded by robbers, a number of officers were deployed. When they reached the scene, the suspects were already onboard, attempting to rob the ship’s crew.

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Nigeria: Navy Deploys Eight Ships, Two Helicopters to Tackle Insecurity in Nigerian Waters

By Rebecca Ejifoma

The Nigerian Navy yesterday disclosed that it has deployed eight of its warships and two fighter jets to tackle cases of insecurity in the country’s territorial waters.

It said the deployment is part of a 30-day sea operations tagged: ‘Okun Alaafia II’, a Yoruba word for ‘calm water’ II, which it said is aimed at checking illegalities around the country’s waters.

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Source: allafrica.com

Piracy: Institute urges FG to re-engage Tompolo’s company

The President, Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS), Capt. Tony Onoharigho, on Sunday, urged the Federal Government to re-engage the services of Global West Specialist Vessels (GWSV) in the fight against piracy. Onogharigho stated this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He hinged the appeal on the recent acquittal of Chief Government Ekpemupolo and Capt. Enusoh Warredi of charges of corruption and seizure of their maritime security assets, including the surveillance and combat vessels, belonging to GWSV.

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Source: thenewsnigeria.com.ng