Nigeria urges EU to extend Gulf of Guinea security support

Nigeria is urging the European Union to maintain its support and funding for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea as its interventions near completion.

Adegboyega Oyetola, minister of marine and blue economy, on Thursday in Abuja while receiving a delegation from the EU Evaluation Mission on the Gulf of Guinea Inter-regional Network (GoGIN II) Project, said Nigeria still faces threats from illegal fishing, trafficking, and environmental crimes, and that regional challenges require sustained international backing.

GoGIN II is the second phase of the first GoGIN project, an EU-funded maritime security programme in the Gulf, launched in 2016 to help West and Central African countries tackle maritime threats like piracy, illegal fishing, and trafficking. It is funded by European Union (EU) and implemented by Expertise France (EF).

The EU delegation, led by Stephanie Vergniault, is in Nigeria to evaluate GoGIN II’s “ performance, operational results and sustainability.”

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Oyetola assured that the intervention has helped in “enhancing maritime domain awareness and facilitating closer collaboration among national and regional agencies.

Through GoGIN II, the EU funds and supports the Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System (YARIS), which lets countries in the Gulf of Guinea share real-time maritime information.

The minister’s spokesperson said he “stressed the need to sustain and optimise its operational use,” urging stakeholders to consider long-term sustainability to maintain the gains recorded. He cited the Deep Blue Project, which has reduced piracy and armed robbery at sea, as proof that national efforts work best when combined with international support.

Vergniault said she will gather operational feedback on the use of the YARIS platform, the programme’s contribution to coordination under the Yaoundé Architecture, and the prevailing challenges in the maritime sector. Her findings will determine the future of the EU’s maritime security support.