…Four Nigerian navy ships, helicopter deployed
By Evelyn Usman
Four Nigerian Navy ships and a helicopter A 5- day combined naval exercise codenamed GRAND AFRICAN NEMO, (Navy Exercise for maritime Operation ) was flagged off in the Nigerian waters yesterday, with four Nigerian Navy ships and a helicopter, participating.
Maritime chiefs fret over global concern on Nigerian waters(Opens in a new browser tab)
The exercise which is coordinated by the French Navy, according to the Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Commodore Suleiman Dahun, was aimed at supporting the efforts of regional navies, with a view to countering criminal activities in the maritime domain, through different operational modes of planned exercises.
He informed that key ministries and departments such as Ministries of Justice, Finance, Interior, and Agriculture as well as the Department of Fisheries, would be involved in the exercise, in order to provide opportunities for inter-agency cooperation among major stakeholders in the maritime sector, for enhanced security.
Commodore Dahun in statement made available to Vanguard, said, “ The Exercise is also aimed at supporting the efforts made by regional navies and allied nations. It is also being conducted to assist in training regional Maritime Operations Centers in sharing real time information and capacity building.
“The four ships and one helicopter deployed for the exercise will carry out various naval drills together with other foreign ships within Nigerian waters, which is in line with the strategic directives of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, to end crude oil theft and economic sabotage in the nation’s maritime environment through enhanced patrol and operations.
“The ships will conduct Visit Board Search and Seizure, Search and Rescue, Anti-Piracy and Anti-Poaching drills, Visual Communications and Casualty Evacuation exercises, as well as Fleet Maneuvers among others. The 5-day Exercise will culminate in a debriefing for the review and assessment of conduct of the Exercise in order to improve future exercises and perfect strategies at tackling maritime crimes”.
By the way, GRAND AFRICAN NEMO has its genesis in the 2013 Yaounde, Cameroon summit , during which countries which border the gulf of guinea (Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe Angola and Congo) pledged to strengthen maritime security operation.
Nigeria can generate N151bn from onion farming annually —Group(Opens in a new browser tab)
It could be recalled that in an effort to counter piracy and other illegal activities in the West and Central African sub region, the Yaoundé Declaration on the Gulf of Guinea Security was adopted in June 2013.
Two key resolutions of the declaration were the creation of an Inter- Regional Coordination Centre on Maritime Safety and Security for West and Central Africa to be headquartered in Yaoundé Cameroun. The second resolution was the implementation of a new Code of Conduct on the prevention and repression of piracy, armed robbery against ships and illegal maritime activities in West and Central Africa. The Declaration has been operationalized since the signing of the agreement by Heads of States and Governments of member countries in the same year.
Disclaimer
Comments expressed here do not reflect the opinions of Vanguard newspapers or any employee thereof.