Nigeria, Gulf of Guinea nations partner on sea border patrol

The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gulf of Guinea nations that will allow for a seamless border patrol.

The Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Obed Ngalabak, disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos yesterday on the activities to flag off this year’s multinational sea exercise code name “OBANGAME”

The FOC said that the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, signed the MoU on behalf of the government.

Ngalabak disclosed that with the new arrangement navies of the Gulf of Guinea nations are allowed to pursue fleeing pirates or sea robbers into neighbouring countries.

He said that the MoU would eliminate all bottlenecks which might have hindered seamless patrol around the Coast of West Africa.

He said the Nigerian Navy would lead navies from 31 countries of the world in a multinational sea exercise aimed at fostering better cooperation.

He said that the exercise would have navies from US, Portugal, and Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic, Senegal and Cameroon, among others, patrolling Nigeria Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The sea exercise would be flagged off on March 15 and end on March 22, 2019.

Ngalabak said the exercise was aimed at assessing and improving the Gulf of Guinea law (GoG law) enforcement capacity, promoting national and regional security, improving knowledge of African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP) planning and operations and shaping security force assistance efforts.