Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), has issued a letter of commendation to the Nigerian Navy for displaying professionalism, patriotism, commitment and doggedness in the successful prosecution of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
The NSA’s letter, conveyed in a statement by Director of Naval Information, Commodore Suleman Dahun, said this achievement by the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy marked the first time pirates would be successfully prosecuted in the continent.
He noted that this was also recognised by the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Fathi Waly, who commended Nigeria and the UNDOC for achieving the first ever successful prosecution of piracy in the region.
He observed that this achievement was made possible through the assistance rendered by the UNDOC Global Maritime Crime Programme and the Strategic Vision for Africa, which was launched in year 2021.
Monguno recalled that in July 2021, the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State convicted 10 men of piracy under the novel 2019 “Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act”, that was enacted to thwart maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
He further said the verdict, which handed down 12-year prison sentence to the pirates, marked the first time pirates would be successfully prosecuted in the continent, courtesy of the Nigerian Navy’s commitment.
