ISPS CODE: Master Mariner says Nigeria will meet America’s ultimatum
• Tin-Can Port beefs security
Speaking at a Round Table organised by the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN) at the International Maritime Press Centre, in Apapa, Lagos, yesterday, Omoteso said that Nigeria had been implementing the ISPS Code immediately after the concessioning of the ports.
Noting that pre-concession, miscreants popularly called wharf rats had turned the ports to veritable abodes, Omoteso posited that, with the taking over of the ports by the private investors, the ports environments are becoming more secured, as the concessioners have put in place measures to restrict people from entering the ports indiscriminately.
Tracing the origin of the ISPS Code to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on a number of sites in the US, including the World Trade Centre, he averred that the destruction would have been more devastating if it had been through the sea.
Meanwhile, following the American 90-day ultimatum for Nigeria to improve on the security situation at the nation’s seaports, the Tin-Can Island Port has beefed up security.
When SHIPS & PORTS DAILY visited the port yesterday, officers of the Ports Authority Police Command PAPC) were sighted on patrol, while officials of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) Security Department were sighted at strategic locations at the First and Second gates of the port.
Customs personnel were equally on ground to prevent unauthorised persons from gaining access into their facilities.
Speaking on the dilemma of crowd control at the port, a senior Customs officer, who pleaded anonymity, told SHIPS & PORTS DAILY that the issue of complying with the provisions of the ISPS Code in Nigerian ports is the responsibility of all stakeholders.
He posited that all security agencies, including the Customs, have failed in their effort to provide sustainable measures at securing the ports.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
