Nigeria Navy Hosts Spanish Vessel, Reiterates Enforcement against Maritime Crimes
Given to the borderless nature of maritime crimes, the Western Naval Command (WNC) of the Nigerian Navy, recently reiterated the need to continuously fight that, while urging all African navies and others nations to collaborate to eradicate the menace.
The WNC Chief Staff Officer(CSO), Rear Admiral Hamza Kaoje, made this known while receiving the Spanish Naval Ship BAM RELAMPAGO and the Ambassador at the command in Apapa, Lagos.
The Spanish Naval Ship BAM RELAMPAGO paid a port call to Lagos to strengthen the existing bilateral relations between Spain and Nigeria.
Stressing that the navy and Nigeria as a whole are doing much to improve on making the waters safe, he added that, "
"Maritime crime is borderless. For instance, if you stop it in Nigeria, you will discover that it will go elsewhere.
"We all know that Nigeria has been delisted from the list of pirate countries
in the world. We achieved this through the collaboration of other international stakeholders."
On the port visit by the Spanish
Vessel he said: "Every year, the Spanish sends their vessels to come and exercise with us and everytime they come, we train a lot because training can't be over emphasised."
Appealing to the Spanish ambassador for his country's continued support in the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the CSO who also talked about illegal and unreported fishing in the Nigerian waters, called for more support.
According to him, the support are in terms of training and more exercises from both countries, adding that training and retraining of naval personnel was needed all the time.
Earlier, the Spanish Ambassador, Mr Juan Sell, during his remarks, assured the Nigerian Navy of his continued support at ensuring the maritime space is criminality free.
At the same time, he also assured the navy of the Spanish continued bi-lateral relations, adding that the Nigeria Navy has been doing a great job at keeping the waters safe.
Present at the visit were Captain Gauthier Guillaumat (CO); Colonel Guillaume Dujon (DA); Cdr William Tosten (Naval Attaché); and Lt Manon de Dianous (CO assistant) the Spanish Ambassador, Consul General and the Commanding Officer SNS BAM RELAMPAGO, Lt. Cdr. Alberto Ligero, with other delegates.