Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo, and Niger Republic have launched “Operation Safe Domain II” to combat piracy and maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.
Speaking at the inauguration on Monday, the Director of Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre Zone E, Commodore Aniedi Ibok, explained that the programme aimed at enhancing maritime security through regional collaboration for prosperity. The event is taking place from September 11 to 15 at Cotonou Port Naval Base, News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The Yaoundé Code of Conduct in 2013 divided the Gulf of Guinea into two regions: one coordinated by the Regional Centre for Maritime Security in West Africa in the West and the other by the Regional Centre for Maritime Security in Central Africa in the East.
The ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy established maritime zones E, F, and G in 2014. Zone E, established earlier as a pilot project, led to the establishment of other zones.
Ibok said that the Joint…