Oct. 21, 2013
NewsRescue– Reuters has reported an increase in high sea piracy off the coast of Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta region. This as Tompolo a Niger-Delta militant is being paid more and more by Nigeria’s president for so-called security of the region, happening as Nigeria’s military complains of being too broke and not having the right equipment to engage terror. It is scary to imagine why Nigeria’s President will fund a terrorist like Tompolo to purchase ammunition for allegedly providing military security which he clearly does not, while the president fails to fund the nations military. It points to the presidents preparation of a private army for use in attacking the Federal republic of Nigeria. See: Jonathan’s Private Army: Niger-Delta ex-Militant Terrorists Threaten Atiku
Pirate attacks by heavily armed gangs surge off Nigerian coast
(Reuters) – Pirate attacks off Nigeria’s coast have jumped by a third this year with ships passing through West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, a major commodities hub, increasingly under threat from gangs wanting to snatch cargoes and crews.
Unlike the dangerous waters off Somalia and the Horn of Africa on the east coast of Africa, through which ships now speed with armed guards on board, many vessels have to anchor to do business off West African countries, with little protection.
This makes them a soft target for criminals and jacks up insurance costs.
“Pirates, often heavily armed and violent, are targeting vessels and their crews along the (Nigerian) coast, rivers, anchorages, ports and surrounding waters. In many cases, they ransack the vessels and steal the cargo, usually gas oil,” the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported on Thursday.
Countries on the Gulf of Guinea, including Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, are major sources of oil and cocoa and increasingly metals for world markets.
Data from the IMB, which coordinates the fight against maritime crime and malpractice, showed Nigeria remained the main source of piracy in the region with 29 attacks on vessels recorded in the first nine months of 2013, up from 21 in the same period last year. Read full on Reuters
In our earlier report– The House of Reps ad-hoc Committee investigating the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, CVFF, has queried the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, over $326 million it paid to Global West Specialist Vessels Limited, a company purportedly owned by ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo.
The House Committee was set up to ascertain how much has accrued into the CVFF, including the interest, as well as how much the Fund disbursed and to whom it gave the money. It also demanded to know why such huge amount of payment was made to Tompolo’s company secretly.
During the investigation, a member of the Committee, Dr Adejare Samuel Babatunde, raised an alarm at the amount of money paid to one single company, and demanded that a detailed bank statement of account of the CVFF be forwarded to the committee immediately. The committee, it was gathered, was also shocked by the payment of 50% of NIMASA’s generated revenue to the said company, contrary to laid down financial regulations of government.
The committee also picked holes at the NIMASA’s CVFF accounts and demanded an explanation on the movement of monies from the Fund to other accounts secretly.
