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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Conflict & Security

Committee renews call for Nigerian Coast Guard to boost maritime security

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • A committee is renewing its call for Nigeria to establish a dedicated Coast Guard to enhance maritime security and economic protection.
  • The proposed Coast Guard would unify maritime safety, security, enforcement, and economic protection under a coordinated framework.
  • Proponents argue a dedicated agency is crucial for combating piracy, illegal fishing, smuggling, and oil theft along Nigeria's extensive coastline.

The Provisional Committee of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) is intensifying its advocacy for a dedicated Coast Guard to bolster maritime security and safeguard the nation's economic interests.

the Coast Guard as the missing link in Nigeria’s maritime governance structure.

— Capt. Noah IchabaDescribing the necessity of a dedicated Coast Guard for Nigeria's maritime operations.

PC-NCG Chief Executive Officer, Capt. Noah Ichaba, described the Coast Guard as the "missing link" in Nigeria's maritime governance. He emphasized that such an agency would consolidate maritime safety, security, enforcement, and economic protection into a unified operational structure. This coordinated approach, he argued, is essential for effectively supporting anti-smuggling operations, curbing illegal fishing, improving vessel inspections, and enforcing compliance.

a Coast Guard would unify maritime safety, security, enforcement and economic protection under a coordinated operational framework.

— Capt. Noah IchabaExplaining the integrated functions a dedicated Coast Guard would provide.

Ichaba highlighted that a centralized Coast Guard would significantly enhance rapid response capabilities to threats such as piracy, oil theft, sea robbery, and kidnapping on Nigeria's waterways. He pointed out that the current fragmentation of responsibilities among multiple agencies creates operational gaps and weakens overall maritime enforcement. With Nigeria's 850-kilometer coastline, major seaports, and offshore energy assets, a dedicated institution is vital for coordinating these complex operations.

a centralised Coast Guard would boost rapid response to piracy, oil theft, sea robbery and kidnapping on Nigeria’s waterways.

— Capt. Noah IchabaHighlighting the improved security response capabilities a Coast Guard would offer.

Over 80 percent of Nigeria's international trade relies on its maritime domain, making effective governance paramount. Coastal communities, fishermen, port operators, and shipping firms currently bear the costs associated with insecurity, operational delays, and environmental threats. The PC-NCG believes a Coast Guard would integrate critical functions like search and rescue, pollution control, fisheries monitoring, port security, and marine law enforcement, thereby strengthening national sovereignty and boosting the blue economy sector. The committee is committed to working with the National Assembly to establish the necessary legal framework for this proposed agency.

The ocean is Nigeria’s next economic frontier, and the time to bridge the maritime governance gap is now.

— Capt. Noah IchabaEmphasizing the economic potential of the ocean and the urgency of establishing proper maritime governance.
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Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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