418 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies N. 4 / 2014 of the Central Bank. A short time previously the banking head had said that, between January 2012 and July 2013, $20 billion in oil revenue had gone missing.38 According to some sources, 80% of distress calls from ships’ captains go unanswered.39 This could relate to inadequate security in Nigerian ports, but also with possible ties between port officials and the pirates themselves. Thus, the deployment of joint patrols and sharing of information and intelligence are the two cornerstones underpinning an authentic regional strategy to combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. The other two strands could focus, on the one hand, on the fight against corruption and improved governance within Nigeria, and, on the other hand, on ensuring the countries are provided with materials and people to patrol their waters, as well as a legal base that will ensure that offenders are brought to justice and convicted. 3.4 Programmes to strengthen the capacities of countries in the region The Code of Conduct on the repression of acts of piracy, armed robbery on ships and illicit maritime activity in Western and Central Africa was approved by 22 countries in the region at the Yaounde Summit of June 2013. The role of the United Nations, via the IMO, was fundamental, and took account of resolutions 2018 (2011) and 2039 (2012) of the UN Security Council, which declared concern at the piracy situation in the region of the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the initiatives and roles of the Economic Community of the Western African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) and the Maritime Organization of Western and Central Africa (MOWCA). The objectives of these initiatives centre above all on strengthening three great capacities: sharing and communicating information between the countries; intercepting boats suspected of participating in acts of piracy, terrorism or illegal fishing; and ensuring that the offenders are detained and convicted. To assist in the implementation of the Code of conduct in the first of these capacities (sharing information), the MTISC-GoG Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre for the Gulf of Guinea was set up 2014. This new centre, probably the one with the greatest visibility, is modelled on the UKMTO office United Kingdom Marine Trade 38 “Nigeria central bank head Lamido Sanusi ousted”, BBC, 20 February 2014: http://www.bbc. com/news/world-africa-26270561 Consulted: 19/08/2014. 39 The Gulf Of Guinea: The New Danger Zone, Africa Report N°195 – 12 December 2012, p. 8: http://goo.gl/k44VtX Consulted: 19/08/2014.
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