The immediate past Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, has disclosed that the navy under his watch arrest over 15,000 rogue Vessels in the nation’s waterways.
Gambo who disclosed this shortly before he was pulled/sailed out of the Navy, said top among the arrest is the recent arrest of MT HEROIC IDUN, that attempted to load crude oil in Bonny without authorization.
According to him, his greatest achievement during his tenure was Nigeria’s removal from the list of piracy-prone countries by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
“The gamut of activities in the last two years further significantly reduced piracy within the Nigerian Maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) which was corroborated by the Defence Web. These eventually culminated in the exiting of Nigeria from the list of piracy prone countries as conveyed in the International Maritime Bureau Report of March 3, 2022,” he stressed.
He also disclosed that, under his leadership, the navy enjoyed improved surveillance that led to drastic reduction in marine crime within the nation’s waters.
“Under my watch, the Nigerian Navy commenced the first indigenous systematic survey of the Nigerian coastal and offshore waters, using state of the art survey equipment onboard Nigerian Navy Ship LANA, an hydrographic Ship acquired in 2022,” he stressed.
He said, during his tenure, was when about ten pirates arrested for different infractions in the nation’s water were sentenced to 12 year imprisonment for the first time.
The former CNS stated that the feat were achieved through the enactment of the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act by the federal government in 2019.
“This marked the systematic survey of Nigerian Maritime domain .This will position Nigeria on the right part towards improved economic growth, national security and development,” he added
He further stated that during his tenure as leader, “the Nigerian Navy witnessed remarkable advancements in operations, logistics, manpower development, and personnel welfare.
“We recorded great achievements in anti-crude oll theft, anti-piracy and counterinsurgency operations as well as fleet renewal and massive infrastructural development among others. An appraisal of these efforts explains the successes attained by the Service, with increasing capacity to project force across the Gulf of Guinea in support of our neighbours and international partners. The secrets to these noble achievements remain teamwork, integrity and professionalism.”
According to him, “The past two and half years have been very eventful and the Nigerian Navy has progressed. I have always believed that story of the Navy is journey and every leader that comes adds value to what he has met on ground. Maritime threats are ever dynamic and transnational in nature. In the last two and half years, Nigeria moved out of the piracy-prone countries in the world. This is a record which hasn’t been achieved for the past 27 years.
“On illegal oil bunkering, through Operation DAKATAR DA BARAWO the Navy brought this menace to the lowest ebb. The Nigerian Navy also leveraged highly on technology in its operations and this has made it more result-oriented and cost-effective. We don’t need to deploy most of our capital ships in the wild to keep pursuing culprits or maritime offenders because from the comfort of all the operational Commands, the Nigerian Navy can vector any maritime offending ships, platforms or persons such as pirates, sea robbers, among others.”
