Fishermen go about their activities in the Indian Ocean. Photo/ nation.co.ke]
Fishermen in Lamu County are being issued with special IDs as part of the national government's efforts to prioritise their security and that of the region at large.Operation Linda Boni director James ole Seriani said they are targeting more than 6,000 high or deep sea fishermen in the exercise.He said they expect the exercise to be completed within a month.“We have officially started the processes of issuing special IDs to fishermen in Lamu. We are targeting only high or deep sea fishermen. All this is to ensure security of the fishermen and the entire county,” ole Seriani told the Nation.The special IDs will bear the fisherman's name, age and place of residence.With the special document, security officers will now be able to closely monitor the fishermen as they fish in the Indian Ocean thus ridding the region of criminals posing as fishermen.The move comes barely two weeks after the government lifted the night fishing ban it had imposed in 2011 following increased attacks and kidnappings by al-Shabaab militants.The director further hailed the fishermen's efforts to join beach management units, which is also part of the government's strategy to ensure their safety and that of the county at large.Through the units, the team leaders are supposed to file daily reports to security agencies as part of the fishermen’s monitoring process.