The leadership of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has come under fire as 17 vessels and helicopters it acquired in 2019 to fight insecurity on Nigerian waters have not yet been deployed, SaharaReporters has learnt.
Sources told SaharaReporters that apart from the fact that the kind of vessels imported from Spain could be built locally by the Nigerian Navy, none of the security vessels procured in 2019 by NIMASA had “been put to use since they were imported.”
The sources said that the investment to fight oil theft and piracy by NIMASA was a waste and that the Nigerian Navy could build the same security boats NIMASA imported from Spain in 2019.
Recall that NIMASA in September 2019 said that it had acquired 17 fast intervention vessels and helicopters to fight insecurity on Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.
The Director of Maritime Labour at NIMASA, Mr. Ibrahim Jibril, who disclosed the information while speaking at the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime (TAAM) Conference had assured that the 17 vessels would arrive in Nigeria by October 2019, adding that the helicopters would also arrive in the country by end of the year.
Jibril had said that the fast intervention vessels move as far as 50 knots, and that it would be used to patrol the waters up to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“We have gone to acquire platforms and fast intervention vessels that are coming in by next month, about 17 of them, they are going to be used for apprehending and checking criminalities on our waters.
“These fast intervention vessels move as far as 50 knots, and to be honest with you, this is a very high speed that you cannot find around here at all. It would be used to patrol the waters up to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“We have also acquired helicopters and we expect them to come in by the end of the year. They are equipped with gadgets to monitor and intervene from the air, whatever is required to be done on the high seas,” he had said.
However, sources said that apart from the fact that the kind of vessels imported from Spain can be built locally by the Nigerian Navy, none of the security vessels procured in 2019 by NIMASA had been put to use since they were imported.
Meanwhile in April 2023, NIMASA said that it had earmarked a total sum of $700 million for the purchase of another 28 vessels, through the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
It had been reported that the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, had said that the agency already had a total of $350 million as its contributions to the Fund while the Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) and local ship owners that want to benefit from the Fund would contribute 35 percent and 15 percent respectively so as to acquire the targeted number of vessels.
Jamoh had also said that from his calculations, a total of $700 million was expected to be expended on the purchase of the vessels, and that the loan will be given at a single digit rate.