Tag Archives: Nigeria

Nigeria terminates US-led training programme for Nigerian Army

  December 4, 2014 ,
UGS

December 2014 – The Nigerian federal government has requested and the United States suspended the training of a Nigerian Army battalion as of 1st December 2014. The program began in April this year with the intention of setting up a new 650-member ranger battalion which would have been deployed to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency. According to the US embassy in Nigeria, the training programme will be discontinued at the request at the request of their Nigerian counterparts: “At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army (Ranger) battalion. The first two phases of training were conducted between April and August 2014, and had provided previously untrained civilian personnel with basic … Continue reading

UGS MarSec Digest 25 June 2014

  June 25, 2014 ,
UG

 “Even Marine Police Armed Guards Are No Longer Legal in Nigerian Waters” By Ilias Papadopoulos Master in International Relations & Strategic Studies               This past week we had a very significant development in Nigeria. That is the ban of all security personnel, both private (already the case anyway) and state provided, on board vessels operating in Nigerian waters and its EEZ.             To take matters from the top, Nigeria never allowed the employment of PMSCs on board vessels operating in its waters and gives the alternative of employing locally provided guards from their Joint Task Force (JTF – a unit composed of Navy and Coast Guard personnel) or the Coast Guard (Marine Police). The measure by itself has attracted … Continue reading

UGS Weekly Digest 28 Apr – 04 May 2014

  May 5, 2014 ,
SP BRUSSELS attack

By Ilias Papadopoulos Master in International Relations & Strategic Studies             This past week bore a particular interest for MARSEC as it recorded the first killing of a seafarer by piracy for 2014 in West Africa. Particularly on 29/04, SP Brussels while transiting from Port Harcourt to Lagos was attacked by two armed pirates. The ship’s master raised the alarm and the crew mustered in the citadel. What followed was an exchange of fire between the on board security team and the pirates, that resulted in the death of the later. After the situation ended and the crew left the citadel, it found the vessel’s Chief Engineer dead and the third officer wounded. Both men were hit in the exchange … Continue reading

UGS Weekly Digest 07-13 Apr 2014

  April 16, 2014 ,
UGS

Nigeria as a Potential Oil Export Partner Can Internal Security in the Country Allow Such a Perspective? By Ilias Papadopoulos – UGS Strategic Analyst Master in International Relations & Strategic Studies             Nigeria is the eighth largest oil producer in the world. This meant relatively little a few years ago, but today other oil producing countries face serious internal problems and are forced to cut their production. Iraq for example faces the prospect of a new civil war by al Qaeda, and in Libya several oil production facilities are still held by militants. Furthermore Crimean crisis means that Russia could drastically cut down gas supply towards Europe. All these facts increase the role of Nigeria as a strategic partner in … Continue reading