Maritime
Sierra Leone Assures Support For MOWCA’s Safety Navigation
The Secretary General Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr Paul Adalikwu, has received additional support from the government of Sierra Leone in the organisation’s drive to reduce maritime accidents and promote safe navigation in West and Central Africa.
Adalikwu, who was in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, to meet with the country’s Minister of Transport and Aviation, Ambassador Fanday Turay, expressed MOWCA’s concern over the various marine accidents involving ferries, boats, barges and other watercrafts, said such accidents are avoidable when safety measures and practices are adhered to.
The MOWCA SG decried the loss of lives and investments occasioned by the various marine accidents and formally invited Sierra Leone to the regional workshop on safety of inland waterways and passenger ferries in West and Central Africa planned to hold in Libreville, Gabon, from 15-17 July, 2024.
He added that MOWCA is organising the training in conjunction with the IMO and International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF).
He drew attention to a boat accident that occurred in Gabon in 2023 in which over 60 persons died and seven were declared missing, saying the incident prompted MOWCA to approach Gabon to offer assistance in planning the workshop .
Adalikwu informed the Minister that MOWCA is offering maritime training scholarship to 10 Sierra Leonian youths at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, as part of capacity building drive.
While urging West and Central African countries to prioritise training of operators of boats and ferries, he identified that some of the marine accidents in the sub region involved persons not trained and without any formal record of their particulars.
He advised that water transportation being a critical mode of logistics should not be left unregulated or made an all comers affair in the interest of passengers and safety and avoiding commercial loses to trader victims.
He further explained that the workshop, which will feature training and retraining of operators in the inland waterways space, will serve as a “Train The Trainers” session, which is planned to be cascaded down the line.
According to him, “Our training faculty for the workshop will take participants through basic safety measures that are in sync with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS) and basics of the Standard of Training Certification and Watch keeping (STCW) as they apply to inland waterways, especially in areas of emergency and occupational safety for smaller platforms.
“We know SOLAS is tailored towards sea going vessels, but measures for accident prevention and response mechanism to emergencies in inland waterways are similar.
“Findings have indicated that most people operating small boats for commercial transportation are not formally trained, which poses great danger to travelers along the inland waterways.
“We are also looking at rules of the road for water transportation, particularly on ways to avoid collision in the event of crafts approaching each other”, he said.
The SG gave his host a copy of MOWCA’s Publication of Annual Report of activities which includes meeting of the Council Ministers with the IMO in 2022 in London, leading to the establishment of a MOWCA-IMO Joint Action Plan on areas of collaboration and cooperation.
Consequently, the Committee of Experts from member States produced six Working Groups on identified areas of needs will meet in Abidjan next month.
He further informed that the Working Groups were inaugurated and had been meeting virtually, with a physical meeting coming up in Abidjan from 6-10 of May, 2024 for which invitations had been extended to Sierra Leone and other countries.
Responding, Ambassador Fanday Turay expressed gratitude to Adalikwu and commended the zeal of the SG in reviving the organisation.
The Minister recalled the age long existing relationship between Nigeria and Sierra Leone and in particular the support from Nigeria during their crises period.
He congratulated the SG for the good work that he has done since he came on board MOWCA and the collaborations he has established with other international organizations.
Turay stated that Sierra Leone was reviewing its maritime documents for onward submission to the Parliament and Cabinet and assured that this will help address such challenges that affect the country’s commitment to international bodies.
The Minister thanked the SG for the 10 scholarship slots at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, noting that most of the Sierra Leonian seafarers were aging and needing younger replacement, hence he views the scholarship as a good way to go.
On the waterway transport, the Minister informed the SG that they sought the assistance of the UNDP to support in the building of jetties, saying that this will go a long way in their transport masterplan.
He assured the SG of maximum cooperation at all times .
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Maritime Command, AIG Yusuf Garba, has charged the officers and men of the command to wake up from their slumber and embrace the IGP’s directive on zero tolerance for corruption.
AIG Garba emphasised that the feat could be achieved through collaboration with sister agencies and members of the public.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Okoi Arikpo, stated that the police boss also charged the officers on the importance of being prudent and proactive in the line of duty.
He also charged officers and men to be neat while on duty, reminding them of the need to always be punctual on duty as absenteeism from duty resulting in any lapses will not be taken lightly.
“He reminded the officers of the resuming, 30 minutes before the actual time of resumption as it is in the Police Act and regulations.
Recall that the AIG, who recently took charge of the command, has always harped on the integrity of the force.
Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command, Dr. Ben Aramalagu, has demonstrated his resolve to keep the pace at the foremost Nigeria’s border, raking in a total of N743.728 million as revenue in February 2025 alone.
Within the three weeks of resumption, Dr. Aramalagu made seizures worth N267.054 million (duty paid value), a feat that shows the command’s resolve to continue to deliver even under a new leadership.
The seizures comprise 444 parcels of cannabis sativa, 181 packs of tramadol, 600 bottles of codeine syrup (100ml), 240 kegs of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS).
Others are 1,809 bags of foreign parboiled rice (50kg each), 17 sacks of used shoes, 56 bales of used clothes, and 203 pieces of used tyres that were attempted to be brought into Nigeria through unapproved routes.
Speaking to newsmen while displaying the seizures, Aramalugu said the command’s emphasis will be on unapproved routes where smugglers attempt to bring in what he described as un-customs goods either to evade duty payment or illegally import things on the Federal Government’s import prohibited list.
Aramalagu said the customs under its current Comptroller General, Adewale Bashir Adeniyi, will not relent in meeting the Federal Government’s demand for more revenue in the non-oil sector, including customs duty collection.
He emphasised that the command will not relent in enforcing maximum collection of all revenue due to the Federal Government through duty collection and seizing contraband goods in line with relevant law establishing the customs and its functions.
In his words, “these seizures, which contravene relevant section of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2003 (NCSA 22) reaffirm our commitment to suppressing smuggling within the Seme Border”.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a $1.4 million fraudul syndicate, led by Mr. Ikoro Mang Ifendu, who impersonated the agency’s officials to scam foreign companies, using fake regulatory documents.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, while addressing newsmen on Friday, disclosed that Ifendu, 52, from Abia State, was arrested on February 7, 2025, at Ogborn Hills, Aba area of the state, in a case of alleged fraud and obtaining huge funds by false pretence from unsuspecting foreigners across various countries, while posing as a staff of the agency.
She said, “He is a native of Amamba Village, Abiriba in Ohafia LGA, Abia State.
“His level of education is SSCE and deals in clothing materials. The suspect is in our custody and is cooperating with the investigation.
“This case was reported by Thani Almaeeni Trading Group, Abu Dhabi, UAE following their application to register Dry Fish (Seafood).
“Thani Almaeeni Trading Group, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and other companies from various countries fell victim to this fraud.
In a petition from Thani Almaeeni Trading Group, reported to NAFDAC of the possible impersonation of the fraudsters as NAFDAC’s officials, using the NAFDAC’s letterhead and name.
“The fraudsters, headed by Mr. Ikoro Mang Ifendu, have duped the company thousands of dollars and millions of naira.
“These fraudsters or syndicate operate in a three-pronged scheme involving the Buyer, Bank, and Lawyer.
“Initially, the buyer contacts foreign companies to purchase and import goods into Nigeria. Subsequently, they introduce these companies to any of these banks for payment.
“The bank then declares that due to the lack of NAFDAC approval, the foreign companies are unable to export to Nigeria. Afterward, a legal counsel is introduced to the companies, claiming that they can obtain NAFDAC Certificate through this lawyer.
“The lawyer then receives payments in stages and issues fraudulent receipts and counterfeit of NAFDAC certificates to the companies.”
Mrs. Adeyeye said the agency’s investigation revealed that the group operates 15 domiciliary and 5 local accounts in 7 Nigerian banks.
She noted that the account in one of the banks has a Bank Verification Number (BVN) that is being used by the 2 key members of the group, Ikoro Mang Ifendu and Rosemary Obosi.
“The exact number of the Accounts have not been established, because the suspect had deleted some of the Accounts and the alert messages.
“The tentative cumulative inflow from different victims into the Domiciliary Accounts in Nigeria is estimated to be over $950,000USD, while the sum of $450,000USD is the estimated inflow into the accounts held offshore in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
srl, for registration of products with NAFDAC; Tianyan Filter Cloth Co. Ltd, Gonghexin Road, Jingan District, Shanghai, China; Siam Canadian China Ltd., Frozen Onion Spices, Zhanjiang Guangdong, China.”
The DG continued: “After exhausting the link to falsification of NAFDAC regulated products, this case will be transferred to EFCC for further investigation.
“This is to expand the investigation to other areas that are not within the mandate of NAFDAC. The investigation will also invoke POCA on all the assets illegally acquired in the course of the fraudulent activities.”
Adeyeye disclosed that the regulatory body has strengthened the activities of Investigation and Enforcement and Federal Task Force by reconstituting and changing the architecture and increasing the number of Investigating Police Officers of the Police Squad and Mobile Police attached to the Agency.
“The Honourable Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare will soon inaugurate the reconstituted Federal Task Force and by extension the State Task Forces to compliment the activities of the Agency in the States,” she stated.
The NAFDAC boss urged the public not to transact business with any company that parades itself as a consulting firm for registration of products.\
By: Stories by Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos