Abstract
The World has been described as a global village, linked by trade, transportation, computers and the internet, people, and international law, with the oceans and seas playing a critical role in its security and survival. The communality of States foisted by the laws of the sea underscores the fact that coastal States generally are susceptible to the same maritime threats of piracy and armed robbery at sea, hence the need to commonly adopt the measures in combating them, amid cooperation under international law, and implement these mechanisms in their domestic laws. However, the definition of piracy and its constituent elements under United Nation Convention on the Laws of the Sea 1982, has been criticized for being restrictive concerning it restriction of piracy to the illegal act of violence, detention or depredation, the high seas or a place outside the jurisdiction of any State, private motives as intent, and the two-ship requirement; and is a challenge on its applicability and enforcement under domestic law by States, including Nigeria that has domesticated it in the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act 2019. This article is therefore an analysis of Nigeria’s anti-piracy legislation adoption of the definition of piracy under international law the limitations inherent in its implementation in international waters and the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Territorial Waters, and recommendations towards the effective implementation of the Act by Nigeria in the repression of piracy, armed robbery at sea and other unlawful acts in the maritime domain.
Keywords: Piracy, Armed Robbery at Sea, Maritime Threats, Definition, Domestic Laws