By: Mohamed Sahr mohamedsahrpro@gmail.com
In a bid to harnessing a prosperous success and swift coordination among various zones in the Gulf of Guinea for the sustainability of the Blue Economy, Sierra Leone Police Maritime Wing has committed to remain responsive to combating maritime security threats during an exclusive interview on Friday at its headquarters in Murray Town, Freetown.
Jacob Momoh Kargbo, Superintendent of Police and Head of Sierra Leone Police Maritime Departments said they have remained calm to afford immediate response, as well as combating different maritime threats that tend to grapple Sierra Leone maritime domain.
He added that they have deployed personnel at the forward operational bases to clamp down threats and help strengthening the Zone F region.
Superintendent Kargbo mentioned that one of the challenges they were facing was the firing of dynamite around the Aberdeen and Murray Town areas by an individual alias “The Cat”. “We mounted an immediate raid of the two terrains and we ended up to weed out the individual with the help of other agencies,” Superintendent Kargbo said.
The dynamite explosives are used to stun or kill fish. This is a practice used in many villages and isolated regions especially in Sierra Leone. When blast fishing is done, hundreds of fish can be seen strewn across the reef and left as bycatch. The practice is considered unsustainable since the entire food web is disrupted, and has the potential to drive away investors as well as businesses to fold up.
Mr. Kargbo mentioned that with the aid of the joint patrols with other maritime stakeholders, they have combated the situation mainly on blast fishing.
He revealed that the Sierra Leone Police is acme to provide safety and security of the people. Therefore, he said their responsibility is to focus on the twelve (12) nautical miles jurisdiction. “We only encounter armed robbery at sea, and that we have equally put an end to it,” Superintendent Kargbo revealed.
He furthered that Sierra Leone is a member of the Yaounde Architecture and Code of Conduct 2013, of which the country is making strides and collaborative efforts with other Zone F countries like Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire Liberia, Guinea and Burkina Faso through seminars workshops and capacity building events in making sure that the entire Zone F is relatively safe and calm. “We have learnt a lot through various workshops and training among our members as a strong security architecture and we serious of it,” Kargbo said.
He revealed that the Sierra Leone Police Maritime Wing has recently deployed a boat at Banana Island and other strategic areas to ease their movement and eradicate the security threats permeating within the areas.
He stated that the Yaounde Code of Conduct 2013 has enhanced their knowledge, skills, collaboration and coordination among members in fostering their work and shared commitment.
Superintendent Kargbo said they are impressed about the work and the way the communication gap has been closed across diverse countries in the Zone F region.