The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has reiterated the Agency’s desire to work with other stakeholders to speed up action on the passage of the Anti-Piracy and Other related Crimes at Sea into law.
The DG stated this at a 4-day workshop organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the United States Government which held in Lagos recently. While speaking, he explained that the bill is necessary to provide the requisite framework for the fight, prosecution and punishment of piracy and related maritime crimes in Nigeria.
At the workshop which was focused on developing a robust anti-piracy bill, Dr. Peterside also admonished the participants to do a thorough job so as to ensure early passage into law when presented to the National Assembly as it will reduce the legislative input that may cause delays.
He assured participants and maritime stakeholders that the Agency would collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the Federal Ministry of Justice and all relevant stakeholders to ensure early conclusion of work on the draft bill and ultimate transmission to the National Assembly for enactment.
The Anti-Piracy bill is an initiative of NIMASA which was conceived to incorporate the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the Suppression of Unlawful Acts at Sea (SUA) conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) into a comprehensive legislation to deal with the menace of piracy and related crimes in the Nigerian maritime domain.
