National Legal Framework and Sea Piracy Nigerian Seaports in Rivers State
Vol.6 Special Issue
This study investigated the relationship between national legal framework and sea piracy in Nigerian water ways, Rivers State. National legal framework was used as the independent variable, while sea piracy was utilized as dependent variable with kidnapping and armed robbery as its measures. The study adopted Routine Activity Theory to explain theoretical foundation linking the study variables. The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey while the study population was 65 managerial staff of the firms being examined. To establish the sample size of the study, census approach was used which allowed the researcher adopt the population as the sample size. The Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was used to test the postulated hypotheses of the relationship. The study however found that national legal framework negatively relates with all measures of sea piracy in Nigerian waterways, Rivers State. In view of this finding, the study concludes that through the introduction and enforcement of efficacious national legal framework in Nigerian maritime operations, the unlawful activities of sea pirates such as kidnapping and armed robbery related incidences will be greatly moderated. Therefore, the study recommends that national legal frameworks set up by the country should be properly stated and well enforced by the security agencies in the country to deter activities such as sea piracy (armed robbery and kidnapping).
