Benue State University, Makurdi

Issues with Piracy Regulation in the Nigeria’s Waterways

Bolarinwa Levi Pius*

Abstract

Piracy is a harbinger of maritime architecture collapse and dissipation of legitimate waterway revenue that should accrue to any democratic government. A piece of legislation was passed by the Nigerian parliament in 2019 to deter pirate activities on our waterways. This paper intends to critique the disconnect between the anti-piracy law 2019 and corpus of related crime prevention laws in Nigeria. It further interrogates the fluid identity, clarity of roles and responsibilities of the enforcement agencies to combat pirate activities on our maritime waters. It also appraises jurisdiction crises created by the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act. It finally, examines the lacuna in the law to deal with proceeds from piracy, kidnapping and armed robbery at sea and other ancillary illegal benefits accrued to the pirates. Viable and radical reforms are proposed in this paper.