No ship, Sherlock
The Nigerian Navy reports zero piracy in five years, crediting enhanced maritime security and international collaboration in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Nigerian Navy has reported zero piracy incidents in its territorial waters over the past five years, a milestone attributed to strengthened maritime security and regional collaboration. Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, credited initiatives such as increased patrols, the Deep Blue Project, and international partnerships for curbing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, formerly a global hotspot. Enhanced surveillance and rapid response have deterred criminal activity, reversing years of frequent attacks that disrupted trade and shipping. With piracy significantly reduced, the International Maritime Bureau has downgraded the region’s risk status. The Navy remains committed to safeguarding maritime commerce.
Piracy has long been a significant concern in both the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. While the Horn of Africa has seen a dramatic decrease in pirate incidents, particularly hijackings, the Gulf of Guinea remains a high-risk area for maritime crime, despite a recent decline.
Following a peak in the mid-2010s, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has dropped thanks to combined efforts from regional and international partners. These include the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Navy, and navies from the Group of Seven Friends of the Gulf of Guinea (G7++ FoGG). However, this success has had a downside. Initially, piracy was concentrated off the coast of Nigeria. As Nigerian security forces increased patrols and international cooperation grew, pirates expanded their operations into the waters of neighbouring countries such as Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
While international maritime presence has been a key factor in reducing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria's Deep Blue Project, launched in 2020, has only complemented these efforts after significant international pressure on the government to take the issue more seriously.
These combined efforts have largely pushed pirates away from the Gulf and deeper into Nigeria's inland waterways. This shift has led to an increase in attacks on internal maritime commerce and travel. The problem has intensified in the last five years, with Rivers state suffering 77% of all attacks on sea travel and commerce since 2023. The waterways connecting Port Harcourt with Bonny, Degema, and Okrika have become hotspots for violence. A recent example from May 2025 saw pirates in military uniforms abduct 13 passengers, including a boat driver and ten students on their way to take the WASSCE examination, on the Isaka River in Okrika. The pirates demanded a ransom of ₦100 million ($65,000) for their release.
The economic incentive for better policing of these internal waterways is significant. While the Gulf of Guinea might not be one of the world's most important waterways, Nigeria heavily relies on its internal networks for trade and transportation. Given that the country's road and rail infrastructure cannot handle the volume of trade needed for development, effective water transport is crucial.
Therefore, any statements from the Nigerian Navy downplaying the issue of piracy should be viewed with scepticism. Such claims may be part of a public relations campaign, possibly in anticipation of a cabinet reshuffle or in response to criticism of President Tinubu's administration. It would be more productive for the Navy to focus on the reality on the ground and commit to solving the ongoing problem of piracy on all of Nigeria’s waterways.