New Naval Chief Ogalla Vows To End Oil Theft, Illegal Refining

The new Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, on Friday, assumed office as the 22nd indigenous Naval Chief and vowed to curb crude oil theft and illegal refining activities.

Ogalla took over the leadership of the Navy from Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, who had been in command since January 2021.

In his remarks, the new Naval Chief thanked God for the privilege and pledged to ensure that Nigeria Navy would sustain the aspiration of being the best.

He also thanked President Bola Tinubu for entrusting him with the responsibility, adding that the President’s unwavering commitment to the security and prosperity of the nation was an inspiration for him.

The new CNS solicited the cooperation of all personnel in ensuring the success of the Navy and uphold the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and dedication to duties.

He said the task ahead was still challenging, saying the nation had continually faced significant threats such as crude oil theft, prevalence of illegal refineries, reported and unregulated fishing, piracy, sea robbery, various forms of trafficking and other maritime crimes.

According to him, the menaces were not just threats to Nigeria’s maritime security, but also to her economic stability and national development.

“We are committed to tackling these security challenges head-on and we will intensify our efforts to curb crude oil theft and put an end to illegal refining.

“We will enhance our capabilities to combat piracy and sea robbery and ensure the general safety of our maritime domain,” Ogalla said.

The CNS expressed his commitment to serve Nigeria with utmost dedication and integrity.

He said the Navy under his predecessor, Rear Amiral Gambo (rtd) had made remarkable strides in safeguarding Nigeria’s maritime domain, protecting national interests, and contributing to regional peace and stability.

“Most auspiciously are the fleet recapitalization efforts culminating in the hosting of a Presidential Fleet Review, infrastructural development milestones and gladly as a hydrography officer, the establishment of the National Hydrographic Agency amongst several significant achievements are worthy of mention.

“Sir, your dedication, strategic vision, and tireless efforts have set a high standard for all of us in the Nigerian navy,” he told the outgone CNS.

For his part, the outgone CNS, Rear Admiral Gambo said the Navy under him pursued a single purpose to address the subversive and nefarious activities in the nations’ maritime domain.

He said the Service evolved more stringent operations concepts and strategies to tackle the devastating impacts of piracy, sea robbery, proliferation of illegal refinery, brazen crude oil theft, destruction of critical oil and gas infrastructure among others.

“To this end, we heightened our commitment to anti-piracy operations, anti-COT operations, choke point operations as well as riverine and swamp operations.

“To give impetus to this resolve, we embarked on massive fleet renewal, robust logistics management, acquisition of additional platforms, human capital enhancement and holistic infrastructural development and effective collaboration with local and international partners.

“Our determination to face the several maritime security challenges would have been weakened if not for the immense support we received from the various quarters,” he said.

Gambo expressed gratitude to the personnel for their  dedication, teamwork and professionalism, urging them to keep up the high standards and remain devoted to the service.