Piracy network in Nigeria refers to the organisation of actors involved in the sophisticated, complex piracy activities: piracy kidnappings and petro-piracy. The most organised piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea takes place in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A large number of both non-state and formal state actors are involved in a piracy operation, indicating a vast social network. As revealed by the arrested pirate Bless Nube “we do not work in isolation. We have a network of ministries’ workers. What they do is to give us information on the location and content of the vessels to be hijacked. After furnishing us with the information, they would make part payment, and after the hijack, they would pay us the balance.” Pirate groups draw on the pirate network to gain access to actors who provide security, economic resources, and support to pirate operations. This includes government officials, businesspeople, armed groups, and transnational mafia.
The organisation of the piracy network is not based around a single person, pirate group, or ethnic group, but rather based on cooperation between the involved actors. Members of the piracy network are hired on a case-to-case basis, based on their skill and contribution to each piracy operations. Members can enter and exit the piracy network as they please, thus the organisational structure varies from operation to operation. The average piracy operation requires between 40-60 members. This includes the pirate groups directly involved in attacks, and other players who can provide financing, insider information, ransom negotiation and money laundering, and facilitate sales of stolen goods. From the pirate groups, usually 3-10 pirates participate in attacks. On rare occasions, up to 20-30 pirates in multiple speedboats participate in attacks. Although membership is fluid, the various roles needed for successful piracy operations are not. These roles include pirate leaders, operational crew, sponsors, informants, security, facilitators, transport, and sales.
Organisation of the piracy modus operandi
Piracy kidnappings and petro-piracy have slightly different modus operandi, and therefore the organisation of such operations is different. Kidnapping is a lengthy process, where a long time may pass between the attack and receiving payout. The operations are therefore organised in a way that prevents state authorities from interfering at any time of this process. Petro-piracy, on the other hand, must navigate state institutions to gain access to oil markets. This requires strong cooperation with formal actors within the Nigerian economy.
Piracy kidnappings
The organisation of piracy kidnappings is complex, and require extensive planning, long-term commitment, heavy weaponry, and intelligence. Additionally, it must have support networks for security and economic resources. The main actors included in piracy kidnappings are therefore pirate leaders, operational crew, sponsors, informants, security, facilitators and sometimes transport. In the preparation phase the pirate leaders create the tactical plan and locate an appropriate target. In this phase, the necessary financing, operational crew, intelligence, equipment, supplies, and if necessary, a “mothership” is gathered for the operation. This process invites many opportunities for corrupt officials to finance operations and provide information and access to resources. All planning and preparative activities are performed at the operational bases of the pirate groups, usually located in the Niger Delta. The crew of pirates, usually young men, participating in the attack-phase are recruited from local communities. The pirates involved in piracy kidnappings often have strong ties to local militias and rebel groups, such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). This is because the kidnapping of foreign oil workers is considered an important instrument to MENDs political struggles against the government and oil companies in the Niger Delta. In the post-attack phase, pirate groups need facilitators to perform ransom negotiation and money laundering. Furthermore, close connections to security personnel are highly important in this phase, as it allows pirates to hold hostages up to 10 days without being apprehended by Nigerian security forces. Since 2011, no pirate have been arrested in relation to piracy kidnappings despite dozens being kidnapped every year.