Abuja Declaration: Experts propose “Blood Diamonds” treatment for proceeds of maritime crime

…Information sharing, joint operations, key to security in Gulf of Guinea- UK

Delegates at the Global Maritime Security Conference (GMSC) rose Wednesday from the three-day engagement at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, with a firm declaration to globally criminalise acts of insecurity and proceeds from illegal maritime activities from the zone as was with the case of the “Blood Diamonds”.

In a communiqué, termed Abuja Declaration on the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) Crises at the end of the conference, which was attended by delegates from about 80 countries, the conferees also agreed to constitute a “GMSC expert working group” to drive the implementation of the decisions arising from the gathering in liaison with ECOWAS, ECCAS, ICC, and other international partners.  

The communiqué session chaired by the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, and read by Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in front of about 2000 participants, resolved that “Gulf of Guinea States and the international community should put mechanisms in place to ensure that resources that are illegally harnessed in the GoG, including stolen oil and Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishery, are intentionally banned as was the case with the ‘blood diamonds’”, the communique said.