Korea, Belgium to support Nigeria on maritime security, trade

South Korea and Belgium governments 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.

Kang Haenggu, new consul-general of the Korean Embassy in Nigeria, and Daniel Bertrand, ambassador designate of Belgium in Nigeria, made the promise when they visited Bashir Jamoh, the director-general of NIMASA, at the agency’s headquarters in Lagos.

Jamoh expressed NIMASA’S determination to curb criminal attacks on Nigerian waters as well as the entire Gulf of Guinea region.

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

Addressing the South Korean and Belgian delegations at separate meetings, Jamoh said the Nigerian government placed high premium on safety and security of shipping on its waters and the Gulf of Guinea, and had invested heavily in maritime security infrastructure.

“Nigeria has made huge investments in the establishment of a comprehensive maritime security infrastructure to confront the menace of maritime criminality head-on. 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,” Jamoh said in a statement signed by Philip Kyanet, head, corporate communications of NIMASA.

According to him, the project is nearing completion, with over 80 percent 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,” he added.

Jamoh said the training of personnel for the Deep Blue Project had commenced and would be concluded this month, ahead of the deployment of the assets by December.