However, data from two different Nigerian agencies paints different pictures of the issue.
by Blue Africa News
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has denied reports of persistent incidences of stowaways at Nigerian port berths, stating that figures being “bandied around” by the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) “are far from the truth.”
Stowaways can be defined as people who secretly hide on a ship while it is docked at a port, with the intention of traveling without permission, tickets, or proper documentation.
In her recent press address, Boma Alabi, SAN chairperson said that vessels recorded about 2,300 security violations in 2025, warning that safety breaches and heavy financial penalties are increasingly undermining the stability of Nigeria’s maritime trade sector.
“The stowaway is one of the biggest problems that the shipping companies are facing at the moment,” said Alabi, adding that Nigeria experiences two or three occurrences of stowaways every week out of the over 10 shipping companies operating in the West African country.
Each time a stowaway is arrested, the chair regretted, the shipping firm is liable to a US$2,000 penalty. “The shipping companies are the ones that pay for these penalties. Immigration is the one that collects these penalties, yet we still pay government agencies in dollars for the protection and safety of vessels,” added the chair.
However, Akinola Akinlabi, NIS public relations officer dismissed the figures by SAN. “What we have is not near that number,” the officer said, without further details.
Yet, publicly available information shows that the stowaways issue may be a major challenge in Nigeria’s shipping sector. In October 2025 for instance, the Ghanaian Navy arrested 10 stowaways on-board the Panamanian –flagged Merchant Vessel Grand Venus in Tema, following a distress call made by the ship’s captain.
Preliminary investigations, the navy said, revealed that the stowaways, all Nigerian nationals, sneaked into the vessel while it was docked in Nigeria.
A month later, the Nigerian Ports Authority Police (Western) Command and the Lagos Seaport and Marine Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service, intensified efforts to curb the reported growing wave of stowaway attempts within Lagos ports.
In October 2024, four Nigerian stowaways were spotted clinging to the rudder of the container ship MSC FIAMMETTA, as it arrived in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain on 26th October, having endured a 6-day journey across the Atlantic.
Oliver Ochieng, Blue Africa News