Hmmm. Interesting. So is Nigeria taking a page from the Woodes Rogers playbook for their fight against pirates and militants? Below, I posted a snippet from Theodore Richard’s paper on the Letter of Marque. Is this a case of ‘it takes a pirate, to defeat a pirate’? lol –Matt
Expulsis Piratis, Restituta Commercia in Nigeria?
The western world’s “Golden Age of Piracy” began in 1715, following the 1713 Peace of Utrecht, which brought an end to a decade of European warfare involving all the continent’s major powers. The upsurge in piracy was caused by the unemployment of significant numbers of sailors: the English navy alone discharged 54,000 sailors and privateers could no longer obtain commissions to attack European commerce. This “Golden Age of Piracy” peaked around 1720 and reached an abrupt end in 1725. More than anyone else, the man responsible for bringing this age of piracy to an end was Woodes Rogers.
In an early example of the “revolving door” between the private and public sector employment, Rogers was a privateer before being appointed as the Governor of Bahamas, then the pirate capital of the Americas. In order to reform this territory, Rogers dispersed the pirates of the Caribbean with privateers.
The piracy problem during this era was solved through a combination of tactics:
(1) the British Parliament passed legislation allowing overseas piracy trials, rather than requiring suspected pirates to be brought to England;
(2) captured pirates were publicly tried and executed;
(3) pirates who turned themselves in were pardoned;
(4) naval patrols were increased;
(5) rewards or bounties were promised for the capture of pirates; and
(6) private ships were licensed to attack and capture pirates.
Of these methods, the last is the most relevant here.From the paper, Reconsidering the Letter of Marque: Utilizing Private Security Providers Against Piracy, by Theodore Richard.
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Nigerian ex-militant forges security contract
Linked to $103M deal to stop piracy
By Jon Gambrell
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
A former militant leader in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta is linked to a private security company that signed a $103 million deal with the government to patrol the West African nation’s waterways to stop piracy, officials have told the Associated Press.
The commander, who was granted amnesty in 2009, endorsed hiring Global West Vessel Specialist Agency Ltd. to protect the waterways, something Nigeria’s navy and civil authorities appear unable to do.
Before the amnesty, men allied with the ex-militant, Government Ekpumopolo, carried out attacks and killings in the southern Niger Delta.