ECOWAS Trains 46 Port Stakeholders On Port Safety, Security

Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS Monday trained 46 port stakeholders at Republic of Benin to equip participants  with skills on how to deal with issues bothering on port Safety and Security along the West Africa maritime domain.

The two-week training would help to check  criminal activities like sea piracy, and all forms of sea stealing taking place along the  sub-region of West Africa coastal region which the Organisation said has been responsible for low trading activities and subsequent poverty in the region.

The training  of participants at Republic of Benin  falls  within the frame work of the 2020–2024 Priority Action plan would help in the eradication of all manner of criminal activities taking place within the sub-region of Ecowas along it’s maritime domain, airways, and  land borders.

For this to succeed, ECOWAS Commission,  Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA/AGPAOC) have  developed technical cooperation activities and capacity building tools  for stakeholders in the maritime domain to safeguard port activities and strengthen the security system at the ports Within the maritime domain of Ecowas sub-region.

In  his opening speech , monitored in a zoom meeting by LEADERSHIP, from Calabar yesterday, Resident Representive of ECOWAS to republic of Benin, Mr. Amadou Diongue stated, “Because of the importance of the ports to economic system, of our nations, makes them a privilege target for armed terrorist groups whose  avowed objectives is to reach the coastal states of Africa.

He called for  application of urgent and  imperative measures  to be  take so as  to strengthen the safety and security along the coastal/maritime domain of West Africa region.

In his remarks, President of PMAWCA Mr LUGUGE Michael stated that despite regional cooperation efforts, maritime security will always be deficient if the ports are not adequately secured as required by the ISPS code.

In his good will message, director general DG of the GPHA, Mr. Michael Achagwe Luguje, while speaking before kick-off of  international Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), training session, stated that the training would fortify ISPS enforcement.

He said that the sub-region had recently come under surveillance of maritime security radar stressing that incident Within the belt had been virtually the highest globally.

The DG maintained that effort for Reginal cooperation with defense navy strategically divided the maritime space of west Africa sub-region I to zones which are directly under surveillance of designated MMCCs .