Committee warns against fake Coast Guard operations
The Provisional Committee for the Establishment of the Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) has warned individuals and groups against conducting unauthorised recruitment, training and appointments in the name of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard.
The committee said the Coast Guard remained a proposed institution awaiting lawful establishment through an Act of the National Assembly and had not yet become an operational government security agency.
*Dr Piriye Kiyaramo
Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa
The Provisional Committee for the Establishment of the Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) has warned individuals and groups against conducting unauthorised recruitment, training and appointments in the name of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard.
The committee said the Coast Guard remained a proposed institution awaiting lawful establishment through an Act of the National Assembly and had not yet become an operational government security agency.
Dr Piriye Kiyaramo, Director of Communication and Public Affairs of the PC-NCG, issued the warning in a statement on Sunday on behalf of its Chief Executive and Accounting Officer, Capt. Noah Ichaba.
Kiyaramo said the provisional committee was an advocacy and facilitation platform working towards the lawful establishment of the Coast Guard and had no statutory authority to operate as the proposed 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,” he said.
“No one acquires statutory status merely by adopting the name, wearing a uniform or proclaiming themselves as the institution.”
The committee said recent arrests in Akwa Ibom highlighted the growing problem of unauthorised activities carried out in the name of the proposed Coast Guard.
It said 12 people were arrested on August 31, 2026, over alleged unauthorised recruitment and training under the name of the Nigerian Coast Guard, while five others were arrested and prosecuted in the state in September over similar activities.
According to the committee, the arrests should serve as a warning against exploiting the Coast Guard initiative to mislead members of the public or collect money under false pretences.
It also warned against the sale, purchase or self-allocation of ranks, saying privately conferred ranks could not become statutory government ranks.
The committee said appointments obtained through financial contributions, gifts, personal loyalty or private declarations had no status as government appointments.
It said a Nigerian Coast Guard, once established by law, would operate under 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 in unauthorised activities to disengage.
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,” the committee said.
“Its powers, ranks, uniforms and operations must derive from law.”
The PC-NCG urged members of the public to reject unauthorised recruitment, private commissioning, the sale or purchase of ranks, payment for appointments and false claims of operating as the Nigerian Coast Guard.
It said the proposed Coast Guard was intended to strengthen Nigeria’s maritime security and support the development of the country’s Blue Economy.
“No Blue Economy without Blue Security and Blue Justice,” the committee said.
