The Gulf of Guinea’s troubled waters : the evolution of piracy and other maritime crimes in Nigeria

Abstract: This study investigates the nature and evolution of maritime crime in the West African region, asking questions around what contemporary maritime piracy in Nigeria (and by extension the Gulf of Guinea) has come to look like, and how it compares to similar activities in other domains. The study uses a mixed methods approach, employing desktop research, visiting research, interviewbased research, and data collection and analysis. The research reveals Nigeria to be at the epicentre of the maritime criminal problem over the period under review, which developed alongside the exploitation of oil in that country. The data allows for the establishment of modus operandi and the development of a typology of maritime crime, which reveals five main categories of attack. Further to this, it is also able to establish some linkage between theft of oil and petroleum products at sea, colloquially known as petro-piracy, and the oil bunkering that takes place on land. However, contrary to popular belief, the data does not bear out the presumption that petro-piracy forms the central thrust of the model at play in this domain. Noting Nigeria to be the origin and source of a problem that then spills over into neighbouring waters, the study then homes in on this country in order to establish the motivating factors that explain the emergence and persistence of this criminal activity. The researcher narrows causal factors down to the following: state weakness and ungoverned spaces, poverty and inequality, corruption and neopatrimonialism, environmental degradation, criminality meeting protest, and a culture of violence. The study has also examined the extent of counter-piracy in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) subregion, following initiatives across domestic, regional, and international levels. Overall, the study found that local efforts have been hampered by the pervasiveness of corruption, competing security threats, and...D.Litt. et Phil. (Politics