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Nigeria has attained high-level compliance with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code, Abiye Sekibo....
Nigeria has attained high-level compliance with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code, Abiye Sekibo, Transport minister said yesterday in Abuja. The code embodies a comprehensive set of security measures introduced by the International Maritime Organisation(IMO) following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Sekibo explained that the code, which came into force on July 1, 2004, contains security requirements for governments, port authorities and shipping companies to comply with, in conducting maritime business.
"Nigeria has come a long way in its implementation of the ISPS code, and it is among the first set of countries to start implementing it on the due date (July 1, 2004)," the minister said.
He told a special delegation of United States security personnel that: "Since after ISPS introduction, we are the first in Africa to be ISPS code compliant."
The government and relevant agencies were actively working within the code's guidelines for proper implementation and adherence to international standards, he stressed.
According to Sekibo: "Almost all the country's oil and gas installations and other shipping facilities are ISPS code-compliant. "To facilitate Nigeria's compliance, government established the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (Picomss).''
He also explained that government has placed security agencies at the ports on full alert to avert any unlawful acts in shipping and other maritime businesses.
However, the minister asked shippers and port facility managers "to always undertake mandatory ship security assessments and also obtain the ship security plan approvals for all vessels to which the code applies."
Earlier, Major Lancelot Anyanya, Picomass Executive Secretary, said that the U.S. delegation was in Nigeria to step up efforts towards facilitating security and safety in maritime operations.
Anyanya called for mutual cooperation between security personnel in the two countries to bolster security and check activities of pirates and other threats to marine operations.
Responding, the leader of the U.S. delegation, Cdr. Nancy Norton, said that they were in the country to present a proposal that would enhance security and safety in the Gulf of Guinea Region.
She also called for concerted cooperation and collaboration between Nigeria and the U.S. to guarantee security and safety in Nigerian territorial waters, as well as the Gulf of Guinea Region.
The delegation was accompanied to the ministry by the defence and army attache at the U.S. embassy in Nigeria, Col. Peter Aubrey, and other senior U.S. security personnel.
The ISPS code was introduced in December 2002 to facilitate the International convention for the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS), adopted in 1959.