Simeon H.O. Alozieuwa, PhD
(Department of Defense and Security Studies, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Abuja, Nigeria)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies – www.rieas.gr  - based in Athens, Greece. (Publication Date: 10 March 2014)

Introduction

Until lately, discourse on piracy in Africa revolved around the criminal activities by the hijackers in the East African waters, and symbolized mainly by their illicit activities around the Gulf of Eden and Somali Basin. The recently-released “Captain Phillips” a Hollywood portrayal of the 2009 hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia perhaps illustrates rather poignantly this type of criminality in the region.

The face of piracy in Africa has however assumed a new dimension.  A 2013 report by the South African-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS), notes that just as large scale piracy around the Somali Basin appears on the wane, there has been an increase in piracy incidents off the West African coast, particularly, the Gulf of Guinea. Unlike the Gulf of Eden -Somali Basin piracy which revolves around commercial fishing activities and ransom, the new face of piracy in Africa around the Gulf of Guinea is about oil. .... Read more

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