The Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Major General Richard Addo Gyane, says the incidences of recorded maritime attacks in the Gulf of Guinea which made it the most dangerous waters in the world has drastically dropped from 21 cases in the first quarter of 2020 to just two cases in the first quarter of 2023.
Major General Gyane said this at the opening of a 5-day Maritime Reporting training workshop by the KAIPTC with support from the Danish Government for selected journalists and representatives of relevant stakeholders in Takoradi.
While re-emphasising the reduction in Maritime attacks in the region, the Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre said Nigeria which reported most of the 2020 maritime attacks has since 2022 not recorded any incident of piracy.
“Over the last ten years, the GoG has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The region recorded about 600 maritime piracy incidents leading to over 648 kidnaps for ransom cases. Most of the incidents over the last decade occurred in Nigeria, with the GoG maintaining its position as the most dangerous water in the world in the first half of 2020”.
“Accounting for 21 out of the 47 attacks reported around the world in the first quarter of 2020, however, since the second half of 2021, the incidence of piracy has declined sharply in the GoG, with Nigeria reporting no incidents of piracy in 2022 and 2023 and with only two cases of piracy reported in the GoG in the first quarter of 2023,“ he said.
Major General Gyane said it was a positive development but questioned why the little publicity for it.
“One would have expected the headlines to be bursting with news of efforts that have contributed to this state of affairs including Nigeria’s Deep Blue project. The deployment of patrol vessels by the EU in the GoG, as well as, the generous support of the Danish Government have all been critical to this achievement,” he questioned.
The Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre was however quick to acknowledge the need for journalists to build their capacity on maritime reporting hence the training.
“For journalists to achieve an intended impact in their maritime reportage, they need a critical understanding of the maritime issues at hand as well as harness relationships with maritime stakeholders in order to report accurate information, provide meaningful insights, and do so with professionalism. From a need that was shared in Takoradi and which resonated across the 5 targeted countries visited last year in our consultative visits, it is clear that media practitioners need to be brought on board to support current efforts at maritime security in the GoG,“ he noted.
Danish Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Mr. Tom Norring also spoke at the maritime reporting training for journalists and other agencies.
While expressing the Danish government’s commitment to helping to improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, he encouraged journalists to take advantage of the 5-day capacity building to effectively play their essential role as major stakeholders in improving maritime security.
The training forms part of the KAIPTC and the Danish Government’s 5-year project on Integrated Responses to Threats to Maritime Safety and Security in the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Domain in West and Central Africa from 2022-2026.
