Nigeria, EU move to strengthen partnership to boost security in the Gulf of Guinea as Italian, Spanish vessels make port call to Lagos

Top Nigerian naval and government officials met with their European Union counterparts in Lagos on April 7 to solidify a partnership aimed at tightening the security around the Gulf of Guinea, one of the world’s most notorious pirates hotspots. The Gulf of Guinea stretches from Senegal to Angola, covering approximately 2,874 nautical miles of coastline.

Leading the EU’s side to the first ever Joint Event on Strengthening Nigeria - EU Cooperation on Maritime Security was the Senior Coordinator for Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea, Nicolas Berlanga. The Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Samuela Isopi as well as the Ambassadors of Spain (Mr Juan Sell); Italy (Mr Stefano De Leo); Portugal (Mr Luís Barros) and the Deputy Head of the French Mission also attended the event, held Nigerian Navy’s Western Naval Command, Lagos.

The meeting coincided with the port calls from the Italian naval vessel IT RIZZO and the Spanish ES SERVIOLA.

Nigeria’s Chief of naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, said the significance of the event was underscored by the fact that it was coming at a time that the government was committing itself to the sustainable development of the country’s blue economy.

“A secure maritime environment is a contributing factor to the economic prosperity of nations the world over,” he said.

The struggle against maritime insecurity along the Gulf of Guinea is a collaborative effort that is beyond the capacity of one country. To enhance this collaboration, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) joined forces with the Economic Community of Central African States to establish the Yaounde Code of Conduct.

Gambo noted that the security partnership goes beyond Africa, embracing the European Union and other key international players geographically outside the Gulf of Guinea. He said the partnership became necessary because the Gulf of Guinea is of global significance as a crucial maritime route.

“It is an important shipping zone, transporting oil and gas as well as goods to and from Africa and the rest of the world.”

At least 1,500 tankers, cargo ships, and fishing vessels navigate through the Gulf of Guinea daily. There are regular cases of piracy; armed robbery at sea; kidnapping of seafarers; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; smuggling; trafficking; and transnational organised crimes.

Gambo said Nigeria’s continued successes in the anti-piracy war have led to the activities of pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, reaching an all-time low in more than a decade. 

“Following the significant success occasioned by the Nigerian Navy’s increased maritime security operations against maritime criminalities in collaboration with other agencies, the International Maritime Bureau has exited Nigeria from its piracy list,” he added.

EU Senior Coordinator for Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea, Nicolas Berlanga, described the partnership between Nigeria and the EU as a marriage.

Berlanga said the EU wanted to use the event to show the Nigerian Navy how the EU would be more effective in supporting the country’s efforts. He added that the presence of the Italian and Spanish naval vessels is an example of that.

“The European Union share a mutual interest with Nigeria. The freedom of navigation along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea is our freedom of navigation as well. It’s the freedom of navigation for our vessels, it’s our freedom of investment and economic development for our European investors in Nigeria,” he said.

“We share that and we need to support your efforts because whatever you do, you do also for us.”

While praising Nigeria’s efforts in maritime security, Berlanga noted that there are concerns about “what is ongoing on land.”

“We all know, you better than us, how important is what happened offshore and what is happening onshore,” he said.

“And of course we are happy to deploy all our diverse instruments from the development cooperation, all instruments contributing to stability and peace.”

International cooperation

The Italian RIZZO and Spanish SERVIOLA, currently on port call to Lagos, are expected to run ashore and replenish the required logistics for further operations and voyage.

Stefano De Leo, the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, acknowledged the mutual “helpful” cooperation with the Nigerian Navy and the common vision based on shared values and experiences aimed at preserving security and stability.

“We are happy to be working with our Nigerian partners and we are looking forward to further strengthening our common commitments to maritime security in the region,” he said. 

De Leo said the Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) initiative enables the EU to use deployed member states’ naval and air assets to address the security challenges in the region, foster cooperation with the coastal states, and tackle piracy and criminal activities.

“The Nigerian Navy’s capacity in the protection of maritime security and its strong stance against piracy, oil theft, illegal bunkering, and pipeline vandalism are well known to us,” he said.

He said days ago, RIZZO intervened in a case of piracy between the coast of Ghana and Togo.

“Fortunately, the incident was resolved safely. This is further example of the importance of international cooperation to fight insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.”

In 2019, the Spanish OPV SERVIOLA, while on a scheduled maritime security patrol in the Gulf of Guinea, rescued the crew of a Nigerian-flagged ship held hostage by pirates.

Juan Sell, the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, said Spain has been deploying two navy vessels per year since 2015 along the Gulf of Guinea. He assured the CMP would enable the partners to pursue common goals.

He said although EU programmes are beneficial, the work against criminality in the sea can only succeed if done in full coordination with the navies from the coastal states. 

While in Lagos, the EU team met with the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, and his team to discussion the challenges of ports of Lagos and how they could be tackled. At the Nigerian Ports Authority Headquarters, Mr Berlanga and his team met with the Executive Director, Onari Brown, to explore ways of enhancing port safety and security through the EU WeCaps Project.

The team also visit the Training Center with the Nigerian Navy under the EU-funded Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System (YARIS). The YARIS platform is the information sharing tool amongst the 27 maritime centres of the Yaoundé Architecture, their partners and other stakeholders.

Before rounding off the mission, the team visited the Deep Blue Project, a security architecture of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, domiciled at Nigerian Maritime Safety Administration (NIMASA).