Navy Calls for Unified Control of Maritime Surveillance Assets

The Nigerian Navy has warned that the unregulated deployment of unmanned vessels for maritime surveillance could pose serious risks to the security of the nation’s maritime domain. Speaking at the 2026 Lagos International Maritime Week, Rear Admiral Daniel Atapa of the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Department called for an appropriate legal and regulatory framework to govern the deployment and operation of such vessels. Atapa said several agencies, including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the Navy and the Nigerian Ports Authority, have Maritime Domain Awareness assets, but the absence of a codified framework has left individual agencies largely free to determine how their systems are operated. He said this situation, coupled with what he described as silent inter-agency rivalry, has made it difficult to effectively harmonise surveillance assets, coordinate operations and share information across agencies.

Atapa said a regulation bringing the various agencies under a common framework would improve coordination and ensure that available maritime security assets are deployed more effectively. He noted that agencies would still be able to operate their own equipment and systems, but their activities would be better aligned under a coordinated structure. Addressing the presence of foreign vessels and navies in the Gulf of Benin, Atapa said the area remains an open sea line of communication and that many of the foreign navies operating there come from countries with significant shipping interests in the region. On unmanned vessels specifically, he reiterated that the absence of regulation currently allows operators to act according to what they consider appropriate, stressing the need for a framework that clearly defines how such technology should be deployed and managed within Nigeria’s maritime space.

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