We are committed to protecting the nation’s maritime domain – Navy

7 years ago

We are committed to protecting the nation’s maritime domain – Navy

The Nigerian Navy on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to continue to protect the nation’s maritime domain against piracy and any other criminal activities.

The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas, said this while briefing newsmen at the end of his Annual Sea Inspection Exercise tagged “We”, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Ibas said that the exercise was designed to assess the combat readiness of the Navy fleet in conducting maritime operations, adding that it included sister agencies and other stakeholders in the maritime domain.

The CNS said the efforts were geared towards inter-agency cooperation for the enhancement of maritime security and surveillance in the country as well as in the Gulf of Guinea.

“The Nigerian maritime is strategic to the survival of citizens; on the other hand, it has attracted criminal activities.

“This activity pose serious problems to the country, especially to the economy of the country.”

He, however, said that the Navy to determined to ensure that all issues related to illegal activities in the nation’s waterways were tackled headlong.

This, Ibas said, had necessitated the introduction of many operational options such as ‘Tsare Teku’, among others.

The CNS said that the introduction of such operations had largely reduced criminal activities in the maritime domain.

“All these efforts will also go a long way in boosting the nation’s economy and enhancing development in the country.”

He also urged the Army and Air Force to consolidate on their ability to operate effectively as one unified force for the sake of national resources.

“I have no doubt that lessons learnt from this exercise will enhance our operational capability to a large extent.

“It will enable us to observe the weaknesses and strengths of our operations with a view to improving on the weaknesses and consolidating on our strengths.’’

The CNS expressed confidence that the subsequent exercise would be made better and that the Nigerian Navy would be able to consolidate on its training and exercises to achieve the desired objectives.

He said that the nation’s maritime domain was very vast, hence the need to keep constant surveillance to ensure that it is crime free.

Ibas noted that there were still series of challenges in the quest to protect the maritime domain, but pledged that they would not deter the service from carrying out its responsibilities.