Nigeria seeks AU-backed maritime task force for Gulf security

At the assembly of the African Union (AU) heads of state and government in Addis Ababa, Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu called on the Africa Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) to establish a combined maritime task force to enhance security in the Gulf of Guinea.

Tinubu’s statement, delivered by Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs during the 38th ordinary session of the assembly on Sunday, also assured of Nigeria’s willingness to host the task force headquarters in Lagos.

“The time has come for the African Union Peace and Security Council to prioritise the creation of a Combined Maritime Task Force for the Gulf of Guinea,” the president said during security discussions, which included a review of the “Silencing the Guns in Africa” initiative, a plan to reduce conflicts and achieve peace on the continent between 2023 and 2024.

But Nigeria has reason to care. The Gulf of Guinea, spanning the coasts of West and Central Africa, has for long been a global hotspot for maritime insecurity, particularly piracy, illegal fishing, and smuggling.

Piracy is not new to the region, and since maritime trade is a key source of income for the coastal states of West Africa, like oil, it is subject to predation, says the United Nations.

Nigeria, which contains half the population of the region, and contributes more than half of the regional GDP is highly dependent on oil for up to 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings. It is the single most important industry in the entire region, and for two decades has been threatened by transnational organised crime.

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International Maritime Organisation data shows that out of all 322 locations of piracy attacks from 2006 to mid-September 2012 in coastal West Africa, 204 were within Nigerian borders.

“Revenues would be much higher if the oil industry was not subject to continual criminal predation,” the United Nations reckons. Piracy and oil theft increase shipping costs, insurance premiums, and operational expenses which discourage investment in the country’s oil and maritime sectors.

Nigeria’s proposal for a maritime task force coincided with its defence minister signing an agreement with the AU for the Nigerian Navy to provide Strategic Sea Lift Services in support of AU peace operations, humanitarian missions, natural disaster response, and personnel movement.

On Libya, the president’s progress report related that the instability in the North African country has continued to fuel security challenges in Sahel countries grappling with democratic transition, including Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Gabon, and asked the Assembly to back initiatives to restore law and order.

“The Sahel cannot enjoy peace as long as Libya does not,” Tinubu said. “It would not be out of place to explore the possibility of extending the inherent benefits of UN Security Council Resolution 2719 to support AU Peace Support Operations.”

He warned that the AU must try to prevent the increasing incursion of extra-continental forces, including private military companies, into African security matters.