Insecurity: Nigerian Navy Commissions Over 1,000 Officers To Tackle Insurgency.
By Ehis Anetor
The Nigerian Navy on Saturday commissioned 1,482 ratings and sub- lieutenants from its training institutions to straighten its onslaught against onshore and offshore armed attacks in Nigeria.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral AWWAL GAMBO during the commissioning ceremony, said the newly commissioned officers had been trained to be flexible, innovative and proactive in the fight against the asymmetric and internal security threats emanating from insurgent groups, bandits and kidnappers.
He disclosed that the Nigerian Naval Collage and the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School have maintained the top spot in naval training in Nigeria as well as the African sub-region.
He said Navy’s efforts had significantly reduced pirate attacks on ships in the gulf of Guinea, adding that sea robberies in the Nigerian waterways had reduced to the lowest in the last 27 years, as could be attested to by the International Maritime Bureau global piracy report of July, 2021.
In his address “These laudable development had been acknowledged by the International Maritime Bureau in its global piracy report of 14th July, 2021, indicating the lowest total number of piracy and sea robbery attacks against shipping in the last 27 years.
“This report, as corroborated by the Defence Work Maritime Security report of 15th October, 2021, which noted further decline in reported cases of piracy, armed attacks against shipping in the gulf of Guinea.”
GAMBO, disclosed that that 196 trainees from the Direct Short Service Course and Special Duty Pre-commission Training cadets were commissioned as sub-lieutenants of the Navy, while 1,286 trainees from the Nigerian Basic Training School were commissioned as ratings to join the ranks of the Navy
He noted that the Navy would be collaborating with sister security agencies in joint operations against Boko Haram and bandits in the north-east, north-west and north-central as well as secessionist groups in the south-east.
“In addition to supporting sister services in the north-east, north-west and north-central joint operations against the Boko Haram insurgents, as well as ongoing internal operations against secessionist groups in the south-east.
“The Nigerian Navy in the last couple of months brought to bare her dominance status in the west African region by sustaining an aggressive presence in the nation’s maritime environment leading to the drastic reduction in acts of criminality in the gulf of Guinea.”