The sinking of NIMASA-BARUGU, one of the patrol gunboats in the fleet of the defunct Global West Vessels Specialist Nigeria Limited (GWVSL) at the Kirikiri Terminal, Apapa, Lagos has raised issue of the safety of the vessels under the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other security agencies.
NIMASA-BARUGU was one of the 25 off-shore patrol vessels purchased on behalf of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) by GWVSL for the patrol of the nation’s waterways.
The vessel was in dispute between NIMASA and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as it was one of the other 24 gunboats alleged assets of Government Ekpemupolo (popularly known as Tompolo), leader of Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).
And as part of the measures to secure the creeks to minimize maritime crimes in the zone, the then Federal Government entered into a maritime security contract with his firm.
Under the contract, the Federal Government, through NIMASA, entered into an agreement with Global West in 2013 to supply patrol boats for policing the entire stretch of Nigeria’s coastline, from Calabar to Lagos.
The initial investment of the joint venture as at that time stood at $103,400,000.00, which was about N16bn, and part of the ship purchases then by Global West was a decommissioned Norwagian warship which sparked off controversy.
But on Sunday evening, a video went viral on social media with some young men seen leaving the sinking vessel and warning that other vessels under the Global West-NIMASA security arrangement might also sink if relevant authorities refuse to do the needful.
“We have been warning relevant authorities for the past two months about the state of the vessels owned under the Global West-NIMASA security arrangement. These vessels are out of class and might start sinking anytime from now.
“Today, NIMASA-Barugu has gone down and we don’t know which one will follow next. Two of these vessels are still in Lagos waters while others are in Warri,” the young men were seen warning in the video shortly before NIMASA-Barugu went down.
In a swift response from the Assistant Director, Public Relations of NIMASA, Edward Osagie, however revealed that litigation issues prevented the agency from taking over some of the vessels in the recent past.
“While this is an unfortunate development, it is important to bring to the attention of all that this vessel under reference here is one of Global West boats that were in service with the Agency years ago.
“This boat has the name NIMASA-Barugu right from the days of the contract. There are also other boats in this contractual category in Warri.
“Collectively, the boats and their management have remained a subject of litigation and under the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for years.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is on record that NIMASA recently made concerted efforts towards reactivating a few of the serviceable boats in this fleet but was constrained by the legal encumbrances due to the nature of the case in court. As a law-abiding entity, we approached the matter under sound legal advisory.
“Finally, it must be stated that this vessel was not in our jetty and under our management at the time of the incident. The crew on board does not report to NIMASA but to Global West management, its owners.
“NIMASA remains committed to her statutory responsibility of administering safety and regulating the industry within the ambit of every lawful framework,” Mr Edward Osagie stated in a statement made available to newsmen.
But with the warning from the youths, it is time for new security measures to secure the vessels under the Global West-NIMASA terminated contract.
Said a source, “the sinking is a waste and calls into question how we secure our national resources even if they are in custody of the security agencies. There must be a way of maintaining these vessels and ensuring that unwanted visitors don’t have access to them. The situation calls for soul-searching on the part of all agencies concerned. The threat of the youths shouldn’t be ignored as the locations of the other vessels could as well be porous in terms of security.”