The immediate past Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo has disclosed that the navy under his watch arrested over 15,000 rogue Vessels in the nation’s waterways.
Gambo who disclosed this shortly before he was pulled out of the Navy, said top among the arrests is the recent arrest of MT HEROIC IDUN, that attempted to load crude oil in Bonny without authorization.
According to him, some of his achievements during his tenure as the 21st Chief of the Naval Staff, were improved surveillance that led to drastic reduction in marine crime within the nation’s waters.
“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.
“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 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.
