Bilateral blossoming
Reports on the rate of piracy in the gulf are a “deliberate ongoing effort to discourage maritime traffic as well as heighten freight and insurance cost” in the region, Suleman Dahun, commodore for chief of the naval staff, said in a statement on 26 February.
Dahun’s statement cited Dryad’s reporting of an incident involving the MV Odianosen vessel as an example of “alarmist” reporting. Nigerian media were told to beware of any “calculated attempt at tarnishing the image of the nation” as part of an “untoward maritime agenda”.
