Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, yesterday said 260 ships involved in illegal bunkering have been arrested by the Nigerian Navy.
Adekeye disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen during the maiden tour of the Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Fidelia Akuabata Njeze, to Naval headquarters, to enable her interact with principal staff officers.
Adekeye said both political and military solutions were needed to halt the crisis in the Niger Delta region, which had made the creeks unsafe and hampered oil production.
He said the Navy is in possession of documents to the effect that some of the ships arrested were deeply involved in oil theft and vowed not to succumb to pressure or litigation to release them. He said there were established cases against some naval officers collaborating with those involved in illegal bunkering, adding that those caught have faced the music, in line with military tradition.
He said though the Navy lack operational vessel but not efficient officers to carry out their professional duties. He said the country�s maritime boundary was too large with about 200 nautical miles.
He also said the removal of the Navy from the ports since 1988 was partly responsible for its inability to control movement of ships or monitor their activities in the country�s waters. On the Niger Delta crisis, he said Nigeria should be able to exact its influence, be it political, social, military or economic. �When law and order breaks down beyond what the police can handle, the military is there to step in,� he said.
Adekeye inform the minister that the Nigerian Navy is tasked statutorily to provide the maritime component of the Nigerian Armed Forces in protection of the country�s interest within the nation�s maritime borders, adding that the Navy undertakes its responsibilities by performing the three basic naval roles of military, diplomatic and policing.
Source: This Day