By EVELYN USMAN
LAGOS— Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, Vice-Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, weekend, in Lagos, said with the expected arrival of a new naval warship, Thunder, next month, the Navy had put in place efforts to check the menace of piracy in the nation’s waterways and protect the  western flank.

Boasting about the capacity of the warship, Admiral Ibrahim, who was in Lagos for the yearly CNS inspection, said the warship could take 150 men on board and stay on the sea for at least 30 days, adding that it would, among other things,  bring orderliness to the maritime environment.

Stating that the country was  ready  to checkmate activities of   sea robbers, the naval chief said a combination of strategies had been defined by the Defence Headquarters and three services to put a stop to the worrisome development.

He said there had been a marginal decline in piracy in the western section , with the recent launch of Operation Prosperity, where some Naval warships are  carrying out a 24-hour joint patrol with its Benin Republic counterpart on both countries’ waterways.

He said the only area experiencing piracy attack was the Eastern flank, adding that measures were being taken to address it.

The annual CNS inspection he explained , was to enable the CNS have close touch with officers and men of the Service commands with a view to know how far the policy directives of the Naval headquarters was being interpreted at the commands.

He therefore, expressed satisfaction over what he described as the  level of success observed at the commands, asserting that it was obvious that the Navy had moved to another gear , from the seeming static position it used to be.

“ My observation from this tour showed that the commands have lived up to expectation and if this continues, we will deliver more in our statutory responsibility in this country”.

One of the important  issues discussed at a close door meeting with his men, according to him , was recapitalization,  in order for naval ships to be everywhere . Calling on the assistance of the Federal Government in this area, the CNS pointed out that it would help the Navy to deliver more .