Senya Beraku sea robbery incident ‘deeply concerning’ — Maritime expert
The Founder and Executive Chairman of the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute (GoGMI), Vice Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu (Rtd.), has described the recent armed robbery at sea off the coast of Senya Beraku in the Central Region as “deeply concerning” and outside the normal pattern of maritime crime in the region.
The incident, which occurred on February 26, 2026, has sparked concern among maritime security experts, who warn that it may signal a worrying shift in insecurity dynamics within the Gulf of Guinea.
Armed assailants reportedly attacked a fishing ground about four kilometres off the coast of Senya Beraku, firing warning shots before robbing 71 artisanal fishermen of their outboard motors, communication radios and other personal belongings.
In response, the Ghana Navy, the Ghana Air Force, the Marine Police and other relevant security agencies immediately launched joint operations to rescue the fishermen and pursue the suspects.
Unusual
Sharing his assessment of the incident, Vice Admiral Yakubu, a former Chief of Naval Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, said that although the case was being treated as armed robbery at sea, the circumstances surrounding the attack were highly unusual and warranted closer scrutiny.
He explained that artisanal fishermen were rarely targeted by pirates or sea-based criminals because the risk–reward profile did not align with traditional piracy, which typically focuses on commercial vessels, offshore installations or kidnap-for-ransom operations.
The former naval chief also questioned the likely origin of the attackers. “It is improbable that the perpetrators were local, as disposing of stolen outboard motors or generators ashore would quickly attract attention from community monitoring networks,” he said.
“At the same time, it would not be economically viable for criminals to travel long distances by sea just to steal relatively low-value fishing equipment,” he added.
Vice Admiral Yakubu further cautioned that if neither conventional piracy nor localised theft fits the profile, authorities should not rule out more complex threats.
Vulnerable
He said there was a need to assess whether transnational criminal or extremist elements could be probing Ghana’s maritime domain or attempting to disrupt coastal livelihoods.
While noting that the Gulf of Guinea has recorded a decline in large-scale piracy incidents in recent years, he stressed that the region remained vulnerable to evolving security risks.
He described the Senya Beraku attack as a wake-up call for Ghanaian authorities to accelerate delayed investments in maritime security, particularly in coastal surveillance infrastructure and high-endurance offshore patrol vessels for the Ghana Navy and allied agencies.
“As neighbouring countries continue to strengthen their maritime and border security, criminal activity naturally shifts toward areas of least resistance,” Vice Admiral Yakubu warned.
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