Korea, Belgium Pledges Support for NIMASA

South Korea and Belgium have pledged more support for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in its drive to enhance trade and security in the Nigerian maritime domain.

This is contained  in a statement signed by Philip Kyanet, Head, Corporate Communications where the new Consul-General of the Korean Embassy, His Excellency, Kang Haenggu, and Ambassador Designate of Belgium, His Excellency, Daniel Bertrand, made the promise when they paid courtesy calls on the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, at the Agency’s headquarters in Lagos.

Dr. Jamoh on his part expressed NIMASA’s determination to curb criminal attacks in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

The envoys acknowledged the security challenge in the Gulf of Guinea and promised to support Nigeria’s efforts to improve security in its waters.

Addressing the South Korean and Belgian delegations at separate meetings, Dr. Jamoh said, “Nigeria has made huge investments in the establishment of a comprehensive maritime security infrastructure. The Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also called the Deep Blue Project, is designed to secure our waters, up to the Gulf of Guinea.

“The project is nearing completion, with more than 80 per cent of the assets, comprising Special Mission Vessels, Fast Intervention Boats, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Armoured Vehicles, already in the country.

“The information and intelligence hub of the Deep Blue Project, the Command, Control, Communication, Computer, and Intelligence Centre (C4i), was commissioned in August last year.  The Centre is up and running with round-the-clock production of needed maritime domain awareness. The C4i has helped to identify and monitor activities in the black spots, leading to arrests of many suspects in recent times.”

“We discovered a correlation between crimes in our waters and the activities of the Somali pirates,” he stated, adding, “They have a means of navigating from the coast of Somalia to Nigeria, through the waters of our West African neighbours. In some cases, they enter through the land borders and commission boats to carry out their activities.”

Haenggu and Bertrand, in their separate submissions, pledged their determination to improve ties between their respective countries and Nigeria in shipping development and maritime security. Haenggu hailed the “strong working relationship” between the Korean Embassy and NIMASA, saying he looks forward to continuing it. And Bertrand said his priority was to promote commerce between his country and Nigeria.