FG to resuscitate fishing terminal in Niger Delta

THE Federal Government is to resuscitate fishing terminal in the Niger Delta region to boost agricultural production and create employment for sustainable peace and development.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, disclosed this when he led the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Fisheries and Ship Building to assess facilities at Ebughu fishing terminal and Ibaka, both in Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

Senator Enang said the committee was in the area to assess the multipurpose jetty which was initially conceived, designed and constructed primarily as fishing jetty terminal but has now been turned into vessels berthing for all kind of economic activities.

He noted that the terminal, when finally activated, would boost Nigeria’s economic activities which include fishing and other kinds of imports for employment creation.

He further said that the visit is to make investors appreciate the potential of the terminal.

“We have people who are interested in investing and expanding the Ebughu terminal so that they can operate within the Atlantic Ocean. We have showed them the facilities they can use for ship building or building of trawlers,” he stated.

Senator Enang said that the Ebughu fishing terminal has fish processing, ship maintenance and dry dockyard facilities, promising to relate with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to ensure that vessels which have goods for the South-East and the South-South are diverted to the port.

The SSA decried a situation in which fishing vessels from Europe came into the territorial waters of Nigeria and fish for prawns and all kinds of marine life, take them back to Europe and other countries, process them and send them back to Nigeria.

He promised to draw the attention of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to the area so that the issue would be resolved once and for all.

Earlier, the president-general of Oron Union International, Bishop Etim Atteh, had called on the Federal Government to set up a task force made up of Nigeria Air Force and Navy officers to wipe out sea pirates which have added to the agony of the people of the coastal region.