Piracy: 8 Ships, 2 Helicopters to be Deployed in Sea Exercise –Navy
No fewer than eight ships, two helicopters and other Maritime Domain Awareness facilities will be deployed in a sea exercise as part of the maritime security, the Nigerian Navy (NN) has said.
Also to be deployed in the ‘Ex Beni Kekere’ sea exercise include the elements of the NN Sea Boat Service (SBS), according to a statement by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Eastern Naval Command, Rear Adm. Sanusi Ibrahim.
The statement which was signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Commander Thomas Otuji, added that the Joint Eastern and Central Naval Commands had inaugurated the sea exercise in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
The sea exercise according to Sanusi Ibrahim includes anti-piracy operations, protection of oil facilities, search and rescue operations.
Part of the statement reads, “The exercise nicknamed “Beni Kekere” meaning ‘Water Protection’ in Ijaw language aptly captures the primary responsibility of the NN, which is to protect Nigeria’s maritime environment against all threats.
“The exercise involves a multi-faceted deployment of the two Commands’ assets both at sea and in the backwaters, and is aimed at demonstrating our operational capabilities to securing our contiguous Areas of Responsibility (AoR).
“Our area of responsibility falls within the Niger Delta region in line with the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Awwal Gambo’s Strategic Directive 2021.”
Rear Adm. Ibrahim added that the exercise was an opportunity to showcase the commitment of the Navy to regional security arrangement in the Gulf of Guinea.
He said, “Nigeria’s maritime domain is dominant in the Gulf of Guinea with its enormous resources and it remains strategic to our national security and development.
“We are also conscious that these resources have been persistently threatened by piracy, sea robbery, crude oil theft and illegal bunkering as well as illegal unreported and unregulated fishing among other crimes”.
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