Nigeria convicts first pirates under new maritime law

By Camillus Eboh and Libby George
LAGOS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A Nigerian court made the first
convictions under a new anti-piracy law, giving hope to the
world's shipping fleets that legal reforms will help stem rising
attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.
The three men fined by the court in Port Harcourt, Nigeria's
oil hub, on Tuesday were among nine accused of hijacking the
tanker MV Elobey VI off Equatorial Guinea in March and securing
a $200,000 ransom for the crew.
The merchant shipping industry has long pressed Nigeria to
take action in the area, which has been dubbed "pirate alley."
It accounts for over 90% of maritime kidnappings globally,
according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), with
attacks on everything from oil platforms to fishing vessels.
The court fined the three men convicted 10 million naira
($26,300) each for each of the two counts of piracy to which
they pleaded guilty.
The remaining six pleaded not guilty and their trial
continues.
Nigerian navy spokesman Commodore Suleiman Dahun said the
convictions were the first conviction under the law, passed last
year to make it easier to prosecute pirates.
He said the fines were levied in lieu of prison sentences.
While the Gulf of Guinea spans more than a dozen West
African countries, experts say the pirates typically come from
Nigeria's oil-rich but poverty-stricken Delta region.
Previously, attackers rarely faced judicial consequences as
piracy was not illegal under Nigerian law.
A total of 49 crew were kidnapped in the Gulf in the first
half of this year, compared with 27 last year, according to IMB
figures. It said attackers were also going further out to sea.
"We need to change the risk-to-reward ratio...," IMB
Director Michael Howlett said last month. "Without an
appropriate and proportionate deterrent, pirates and robbers
will get more ruthless and more ambitious."
($1 = 380.5000 naira)