Nigeria and 31 other nations on Friday began an eight-day multinational maritime exercise in the Gulf of Guinea territorial waters.
Already, the Nigerian Navy has deployed 10 warships and two helicopters in the joint exercise.
Flagging of the exercise tagged “Obangame Express 2022” in Onne, Eleme Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State, Niger Delta region, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, said the exercise was aimed at improving security in the Gulf of Guinea and boost synergy with Navies within the regional block and allied countries.
Stating that the joint drill is being conducted on Nigeria’s territorial waters and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) between March 11 and March 18, Admiral Gambo said that “Exercise Obangame Express is an annual multinational maritime exercise, which was born on the need for GoG navies and coastguards to cooperate for regional maritime security.
“The Nigerian Navy will deploy 10 ships, two helicopters; maritime domain awareness assets as well as elements of the Special Boat Services (Nigeria’s naval special forces) in this year’s exercise.
“The exercise will make a positive impact on our combat operation through training while exposing other maritime related agencies to the benefits of inter-agency cooperation and international collaboration.”
Some of the countries participating in the exercise include Angola, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Denmark.
Others are: Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, Italy, Liberia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe and Senegal.
Also participating are: Sierra Leone, Togo, the United States of America as well as the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECOWAS).
“This year’s exercise is particularly instructive considering the efforts of our governments to operate the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which has potential intra-African trade by 33 per cent.
“So, Obangeme presents an opportunity for the Nigerian Navy to work together with other regional and friendly navies to safeguard and secure the GoG, to boost maritime trade and commerce,” he added.
Admiral Gambo noted that a report from the International Maritime Bureau released on March 3 indicated that Nigeria was no longer on the list of piracy prone countries adding that another report released by IMB and DefenceWeb in 2021 said there was a significant reduction in piracy and armed attacks in the GoG.
“These achievements are attributed to sustained presence of Nigerian Navy Ships at sea as well as increased regional synergy and maritime domain awareness as facilitated by exercises such as Obangame.
“The Nigerian Navy under my watch remains committed to eradicating acts of criminality in the nation’s maritime domain and GoG for legitimate socio-economic activities to thrive,” he assured.
Also, Rear Admiral Idi Abbas, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Central Naval Command that is coordinating the exercise said it would be used to checkmate activities of sea pirates, sea robbers, oil thieves, illegal bunkers and other forms of criminalities in the nation’s waters.
He added that representatives from the Police, Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) would participate in the exercise.
Other participants are: the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) and Ministry of Justice.
