This comes as Nigeria ended the year 2020 as the global hotspot for international piracy, which saw the FG launch countermeasures including the Deep Blue Project.

This was disclosed by Dr. Bashir Jamoh, DG Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in a press briefing on Thursday.

Jamoh stated that Nigeria was able to eradicate piracy in its waterways through the implementation of the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure in Nigeria, a.k.a “Deep Blue” Project, launched in 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari to secure Nigeria’s Gulf of Guinea Area.

Jamoh also noted that the entire Gulf of Guinea is experiencing a total eradication of piracy, citing no attacks have been witnessed along the Gulf since March.

“From the first quarter of this year to date, we have not recorded a single accident or incident on our territorial waters in terms of a piracy attack. From the last quarter of 2021 till date, it’s over a year now, no single attack.

“This has led to the cancellation of the stigma placed on Nigeria as the most dangerous water in the world and the country was removed from the piracy list for the first time in March 2022.’’

“What we did was to establish what we call Joint Industry Working Group; to open up our system to the international community and we told them that Nigeria is not the only country where there is insecurity or piracy but they always point to Nigeria only.