Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Jubilee, says it has arrested a total of 17 sea pirates and made seizures of 285,000 litres of illegally acquired AGO in the last six months.
Commander, NNS Jubilee, Commodore Abdulmajid Ibrahim, speaking at the Naval base in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, said the command also destroyed 15 militant camps, during it’s routine operations.
Ibrahim said the destruction of the camps was made possible through the navy’s penetration of some of the creeks within the jurisdiction of the base.
“Within six months as Commander of the base, we have destroyed 15 militant camps, arrested 17 suspects during our operations and recovered 285,000 litres of AGO and ammunition from them, and have handed over the suspects and items to the prosecuting agencies.
“We were involved in a joint patrol with the police across the base communities everyday. This has led to relative peace and security in the area, and brought illegal bunkering to the barest minimum.
“Our strategy is continuous aggressive patrol. We try to dominate the water space and maritime environment. Within the last six months, there has been no attack on the NNS infrastructure.
“We have maintained a good civil-military relationship with our host community, through our Corporate Social Responsibility.
“We carry out free medical consultations and give out drugs within our capacity in our medical rhapsody outreach programme.”
The commander said that in line with the directives of the Chief of Naval Staff, NNS Jubilee would continue to patrol the country’s coastal areas to rid the waterways of sea piracy and criminalities.
Ibrahim attributed the success of Command’s operations to intelligence information gathered from members of the public, while calling for more support.
He assured that the sources of such information would remain confidential and protected, stressing that to effectively deal with piracy and sea robbery, members of the public must volunteer credible information to the Navy.