By Francis Arinze Iloani
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has sought abolition of the War Risk Insurance imposed on ships coming into Nigeria.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja during a visit to the Headquarters of Media Trust Limited, the publishers of Daily Trust, Aminiya and other titles, the Director General of NIMASA, Bashir Jamoh, noted that the War Risk Insurance for cargoes coming were in two forms.
He said: “The first form is the insurance of the sea fearers and the contents they are carrying as if the ship is headed for a war zone and this insurance is estimated at $54 to $64bn per annum while the second form is the ship insurance, which also comes with a high premium.”
According to him, these charges bounce back on consumers since Nigeria does not manufacture about 90 percent of the things used domestically.
He said the removal of the insurance would make goods cheaper in Nigeria and improve the country’s economy.
“That is why we are launching a campaign against charging War Risk Insurance. Nigeria is not at war. If they are attacking your vessels, we have made tremendous efforts to see that is stopped and you have seen it. So remove it,” Jamoh said.
He described the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also known as the Deep Blue Project, as a unique project which, according to him, is changing the narrative of maritime insecurity in Nigeria.
He said the Deep Blue Project had reduced piracy on the nation’s waters and the Gulf of Guinea.
He said from December 2020 to date, NIMASA had recorded ten attacks on ships “unlike prior to the period when at least one attack on ships is recorded on a daily basis, translating to an average of 30 attacks on vessels on Nigeria’s international waters.”
He said the improvement in security on Nigerian waters was partly due to NIMASA’s efforts towards bringing all security agencies together to safeguard the waterways.
While speaking, the Editor-in-Chief of Media Trust, Naziru Mikailu, said the company would partner with NIMASA to publicise the activities of the agency.
