Ship Owners Decry Illegal Activities In Nigerian Water Ways

Oru Leonard

The Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) has decried the activities of poachers operating at the Nigerian sea without any attempt at stopping them.

President of SOAN, Mrs. Margaret Onyema-Orakwusi, who addressed the press on the second day of the Global Maritime Security Conference (GMSC), called for regional corporations in order to tackle the increasing incidents of poachers in the Nigerian sea.

“It is unacceptable for foreigners to invade Nigerian’s waterways and poach our fishes without any attempt at stopping them”, Margaret said

She revealed that the alleged illegal activities perpetrated by Asians and Europeans cost Nigeria billions in dollars and noted that these poachers steal our sea resources and sell them to the international community without following the rules and regulation guiding fishing activities in the world.

Onyema-Orakwusi expressed surprise on how the poachers managed to sell their stolen products without being arrested or traced through their logistics and financial transactions in the international market.

Mrs Orakwusi called for a stronger collaboration on security between the European Union, United Nations and African countries to check crime and illegalities in the Gulf of Guinea.