…Says fake recruitment, uniforms, ranks, appointments must stop
BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The Provisional Committee for the Establishment of the Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) has warned individuals and groups parading as an operational Coast Guard to stop immediately.
The committee said it had observed an increase in unauthorised recruitment, training, rank allocation, appointment and issuance of identity cards in the name of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard.
Dr Piriye Kiyaramo, Director of Communication and Public Affairs, PC-NCG, issued the warning in a statement on Sunday on behalf of Capt. Noah Ichaba, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer.
Kiyaramo said the Nigerian Coast Guard remained a proposed institution awaiting lawful establishment through an Act of the National Assembly.
He said the PC-NCG was an advocacy and facilitation platform working toward the establishment of the Coast Guard and was not itself an operational government security agency.
“The provisional committee itself is an advocacy and facilitation platform working for its lawful establishment by an Act of the National Assembly.
“It is not itself the operational Coast Guard. No one acquires statutory status merely by adopting the name, wearing a uniform or proclaiming themselves as the institution,” he said.
The committee cited recent arrests in Akwa Ibom as evidence of the growing problem of unauthorised activities carried out in the name of the proposed Coast Guard.
It recalled that 12 persons were arrested on Aug. 31, 2026, over alleged unauthorised recruitment and training under the name of the Nigerian Coast Guard.
It added that five other persons were arrested and prosecuted in the state in September over similar activities.
The committee said the arrests should serve as a warning against exploiting the Coast Guard vision to mislead Nigerians or collect money under false pretences.
PC-NCG also warned against the sale, purchase or self-allocation of ranks, saying privately conferred ranks could not become statutory government ranks.
It said appointments obtained through financial contributions, gifts, personal loyalty or private declarations had no status as government appointments.
According to the committee, a future Nigerian Coast Guard established by law will have a statutory framework governing recruitment, training, commissioning, ranks, promotion, discipline and command.
“This is not an invitation to conflict, but an invitation to correction,” the committee said, urging those involved to disengage from unauthorised activities.
It called on individuals and groups involved in such activities to preserve their professional dignity and support the lawful process for establishing the Coast Guard.
“The future Nigerian Coast Guard must not become the personal property of any individual or competing faction. It must belong to Nigeria.
“Its powers, ranks, uniforms and operations must derive from law,” the committee said.
PC-NCG urged the public to reject unauthorised recruitment, private commissioning, sale or purchase of ranks, collection of money for appointments and false representation as an operational Nigerian Coast Guard.
It said the Coast Guard initiative was intended to strengthen Nigeria’s maritime security and support the development of the nation’s blue economy.
“No Blue Economy without Blue Security and Blue Justice,
” the committee said.
Jude Ossai (JP) a veteran journalist is a National Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Ogwashi-Uku Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State. He also studied at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu and Imo State University, Owerri for his first and second degrees in Mass Communication, respectively.
He writes extensively on politics, crime, corruption, climate change, healthcare, human rights, social justice, among others.
He began his journalism career in The Republic Newspaper, Lagos in 1987 as a Special Correspondent in Benin City, Edo State.
In 1990, he was posted from Lagos to old Anambra State as a State Correspondent in Enugu.
In 1994, he joined the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Ibadan, Oyo State, Publisher of Nigerian Tribune Newspapers where he rose to the rank of Southeast Bureau Chief.
Retiring from the mainstream traditional media in 2019, he began another journey in online newspaper publication.
He was the Overall Best Reporter in 2015, an award bestowed on him by Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State.
He has attended several workshops/seminars organised by multi-nationals, government institutions, local and international media including BBC.
He is also a unionist and had held top positions as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists of Enugu Correspondents’ Chapel and State Council of NUJ, respectively. He was also a one-time Enugu State Secretary of Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria (SWAN).
