Nigeria and Benin mount patrols as piracy soars

BBC

27 September 2011

Nigeria and Benin mount patrols as piracy soars

The Gulf of Guinea has been put in the same category of risk as Somalia

Nigeria and its West African neighbour, Benin, are to begin joint naval patrols in an effort to combat the threat of pirates.

The Gulf of Guinea has this year seen a marked increase in the number of attacks in its waters.

Last month, a group of London-based insurers rated part of its coast in the same high-risk category as Somalia.

The International Maritime Bureau says there have so far been 19 attacks off Benin's coast this year.

According to the bureau, which monitors such attacks, none were recorded off the same coast in 2010.