Akufo- Addo, Ghanian President, urges African leaders to rise against piracy in Gulf of Guinea
Ghanaian president, Nana Akufo Addo, has called for an aggressive and workable solution to address the activities of pirates operating in the Gulf of Guinea.
Akufo-Addo was speaking at the opening of the 3rd Extraordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea which opened in Accra Ghana Tuesday.
The Ghanaian president, who convened the meeting, attended by Nigerian President, Mohammed Buhari, claimed that by providing these solutions, the impacted nation’s security, prosperity, and safety will be guaranteed.
“It is important that we have some serious discussion on these items in order to come up with strategies geared towards strengthening peace and security in winning the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region, such as piracy, illegal unreported and, unregulated fishing, arms trafficking, pollution of the environment, smuggling, fuel and crude oil theft.”
Seizures of ships, kidnappings, and murders have become dominant features on the gulf by miscreants parading as pirates.
Over the last 15 years, container ships, fishing vessels, and oil tankers in the region have been the targets.
Of the 90 global piracy and armed robbery incidents reported between January and September 2022, 13 have been reported in the Gulf of Guinea region, compared to 27 over the same period in 2021.
Nonetheless, President Akufo-Addo urged the affected countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, to work together in order to reverse the trend.
He also beseeched members of the State of the Gulf of Guinea Commission to demonstrate more political commitment in its affairs, by paying their statutory contributions and attending the commission’s statutory meetings at the highest and most appropriate levels.
Furthermore, President Akufo-Addo made a proposal for a possible expansion of the membership of the Commission to include all 19 coastal states of the geopolitical Gulf of Guinea.
This, he emphasised, was “for effective collaboration of our navies, Coast Guards, and other relevant maritime security agencies in the geopolitical space of the Gulf of Guinea.”
President Buhari is scheduled to deliver remarks at the high-level discussion on strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region.
