Nigeria and Ghana yesterday began talks on how to establish Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Naval Taskforce in order to tackle several maritime attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.
Ghanaian Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Isah Yakubu, disclosed this at the Naval headquarters in Abuja when he led the country’s delegation to meet with Nigeria’s Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral A.Z. Gambo.
While speaking, Nigeria’s CNS Gambo, lamented that the Gulf of Guinea is currently bedevilled with the activities of criminal elements taking advantage of limited capability of the navy officers in the region to adequately secure the area.
Corroborating what Gambo said, Yakubu explained that Ghana’s move to meet Nigeria, which he tagged “big brother” became imperative sequel to several attacks the country suffered in its maritime sector from the criminals operating in the Gulf of Guinea.
Ghana’s CNS lamented that many of its vessels have been hijacked by the criminal elements, saying they are finding a way to recover them from the criminals.
“Just last month or so, two Ghanaian vessels were attacked, and as we speak, there were 10 hostages which were carted out of these vessels and we are still investigating where they are and how to rescue them.”
He appealed to Nigeria not to relent in its leading role in West Africa, particularly in the area of maritime, adding that both countries may continue to suffer huge losses if immediate drastic actions are not taken against the criminals operating on the large marine space.
