Stakeholders clear air on armed security

NIMASA ruling still in effect.

Stakeholders clear air on armed security on board vessels

The statement issued recently by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) that henceforth ‘all armed and unarmed’ security on board vessels would be prohibited on Nigerian territorial waters is attracting the attention of some maritime security firms operating at the sector.

The statement further stated that the vessel and personnel would be detained and arrest respectively. The statement had therefore created confusion in the maritime community, since it mentioned unarmed security without context.

Investigations, however, showed that the most prominent arrest made on a vessel, LiLAC VICTORIA involved an expat adviser was acting as supervisor and trainer for a team of government security forces.

The situation was further confused by a statement from MITSC which reproduced in several flag adversaries that “NIMASA is viewing all activities in the Lagos Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) by security firms as illegal and therefore engagement of foreign armed security on board vessels is unacceptable and such vessels will be arrested.”

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Source: tribune.com.ng