The Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the controversy surrounding the $195 million maritime security contract is not only unnecessary, but also distractive as it’s needed to fight piracy in the nation’s waters and oil theft, which is estimated to be about $7 billion annually.

He vowed to utilize the security platform to banish the pirates and oil thieves out of Nigerian waters and stamp out their criminal activities which is having negative effects on the country’s economy and image.

Amaechi who spoke during this year’s Stakeholders’ Appreciation Night organised by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), on Thursday in Lagos, said it was annoying that vessels coming to Nigeria were now coming with their own armed security because of the activities of pirates.

The minister, while expressing dismay over the recent kidnap of of 19 crew on board a tanker vessel on Nigeria’s territorial waters, said the signing of $195million maritime security contract was a major effort by the federal government to secure the nation’s waters.

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