The Nigerian Navy has disclosed plans to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Bakassi to reduce response time and conduct hydrographic surveys to boost maritime safety.
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, disclosed this on Monday when he received the Governor of Cross River State, Bassey Otu, on a courtesy visit.
He said Cross River, being a strategic coastal state, is crucial to the Nigerian Navy‘s operations.
He restated that the Nigerian Navy is ready to discharge its constitutional duty of protecting the nation‘s maritime domain.
Therefore, he assured the Nigerian Navy would reevaluate its operations and „establish a forward operating Base „ around Bakassi Island to improve its response time.
He said, „Cross River State, especially Calabar, is one of our strategic naval bases. Cross River is a strategic Coastal state. It is strategic in that it has one of those things that we require to develop the Nation‘s blue economy: an excellent road network of inland waterways that will fill in the gap regarding transportation corridors within that region.
He continued, „We, the NN, have realised that all these cannot be left to the state government alone. That is, we must fill in the gap regarding providing security and other things, such as hydrographic surveys, to ensure the waters are safe.
„In line with your request, we will re-appraise our operations to see the strategic areas where we need to establish FOBs. Although we have a strategic Naval Base, NNS Victory, we need forward operating Bases, particularly towards the Bakassi area, to reduce the task time for our operations. So, your request is exactly what we have been thinking about in our strategic plan, so we have to work quickly to ensure that we achieve that mandate of establishing a FOB in Bekasi,“ he said.
Earlier, Gov Otu said that although parts of Bakassi have been seceded from Cameron, Nigeria still controls certain islands in the Bakassi region.
He appealed to the Nigerian Navy to establish its presence at the three Bakassi Islands under Nigeria‘s control.
He explained that following international contention, two Bakassi Islands were ceded to Cameroon; however, the issue had yet to be officially resolved.
He said while the Cameroon side of Bakassi has a military presence, the Nigerian side has not enjoyed the same fate.
Therefore, he advocated deploying Nigerian Navy vessels and establishing a deep seaport in Bakassi for economic prosperity.
„It is obvious that we enjoy the longest maritime boundaries and need more naval bases than we have now. Some time ago, parts of Bakassi were ceded to Cameroon, but this has not been officially agreed upon until today. Still, we are working to address this in the interest of national unity, Peace, and cooperation.“
„We have five islands in Bakassi; two were officially handed over to Cameron, but three are still with Nigeria. We‘ve been conducting elections there for our people living there. If you go there, the presence of the military on the Cameroon side of Bakassi is very pronounced, but on the part of Nigeria, it is hushed. My coming here today is to alert the Naval Chief that there is a need for the Navy to show its presence in that particular location. Yes, some areas are in contention, but not these particular ones. We have oil issues with securing oil borders and our oil wells back. There is a need for the Nigerian Navy there. The Bakassi seaport is inevitable if we as a country wish to increase our maritime activities,“ he said.
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