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BY PHILIP NWOSU
The Nigerian Navy has commenced a 30 days sea maneuver geared toward flushing out sea criminals and pirates from the country’s water way.
The exercise code named: Calm Waters 2 was simultaneously flagged off in Western Naval Command, Central Command and Eastern Naval Command.
Flagging off the Exercise Calm waters in Lagos, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji said the essence of the exercise was to further the strategic directive and vision of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas, which is “to develop a naval force that is well trained, organized and highly motivated to discharge its constitutional role professionally and efficiently for the defence of Nigerian in ensuring her economic prosperity.”
He said that the exercise would enhance the capacity of members of the force attached to the Western Naval Command, adding that such sea maneuvers in the past has resulted to the arrest of criminals using the water ways and their vessels and handed over to relevant law enforcement agencies for prosecution.
The FOC revealed that eight capital ships would be deployed by the force to patrol the Nigeria’s territorial waters for the 30 days maneuver, naming the vessels to include; NNS PROSPERITY, NNS EKUN, NNS NGURU, NNS EKULU, NNS OSUN, NNS OSE, TUG RIMA AND TUG CDR UGWU.
Also two helicopters and a detachment of the Nigerian Navy Special boat services were also deployed to participate in the exercise.
Daji explained that the 30 days exercise would be in three folds was also to ensure that the backwaters was safe.
His words: “We have been conducting series of exercises at the command level. The purpose of OKUN ALAFIA II is in three folds; one, to consolidate on the gains of the previous operations.
“Western, Central and Eastern Naval Command to have handshake at sea, so that criminals from the west to central and vice versa does not have the leeway to do that.
“We are carrying out operations in our backwaters to ensure that those that are already at sea does not have the freedom to be terrorizing people in the backwaters.”
Admiral Daji charged members of the public to join in the fight of riding the water ways of all forms of criminality by providing adequate information to the Nigerian Navy personnel to enable them act and wipe out criminality from the country’s water ways.
Speaking to journalists on the essence of the exercise, Admiral Daji said: “The essence of this exercise is in three folds, one to consolidate on the gains of the previous operations, to have a handshake at sea by the three operational commands and deter criminal from having their ways at our water ways, and thirdly to exercise in our back waters so that criminals at sea will not have the freedom of action of terrorizing people in the back waters.”
