Nigerian authorities call for tightened measures to curb stowaways menace

Calls have been made for the tightening of mitigating measures that check the canker of stowaway that has begun to emerge again in the West African sub region.

According to the Deputy Port Security Manager, Isaac Kofi Adu, although the Port of Tema continues to record zero stowaway embarkations, the port has become the destination of disembarkations of stowaways from elsewhere, and if care is not taken, it may become a trend.

He said intelligence gathered pointed to the Island Port of Tincan in Lagos, Nigeria, as a potential source of stowaways who may have recognized a business opportunity in this venture.

The DPSM indicated that his outfit has already initiated collaborations with the Nigerian Authorities and this collaboration will be continuously pursued.

He was speaking exclusively to Eye on Port after an exchange visit by the INTERPOL Maritime Security Unit to the Port of Tema.

The INTERPOL Maritime Security Unit under Project AGWE visited Accra and Tema on a mission to enhance cooperation between Ghanaian and Nigerian law enforcement and to provide an opportunity to discuss ongoing security-related cases of mutual interest.

A Criminal Intelligence Officer with the Maritime Security Unit of INTERPOL, Olude Azeez Ademola, said his outfit is pleased with the feedback and will work with both Ghanaian and Nigerian maritime security and law enforcement agencies to activate existing tools that would help curb this menace.

“This is not a common occurrence in the region. We have mentioned some of the INTERPOL services that we can use to contain this which include issuing of pop-up notices where the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority can exchange the information based on their experience with their counterparts in Nigeria. They can also use some of our channels of communication like exchange visits to follow up on cases. We have the platform in which they can use to exchange their ideas against this trend” he said.

The INTERPOL Maritime Security Unit also paid visits to the Narcotics control division, eastern naval command, marine police and the CID headquarters in Accra.

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