The Nigerian Navy confirmed yesterday that it was making more deployments to the Niger Delta area in its bid to consolidate on the gains to curtailing to a large extent, the fight against illegal bunkering, kidnapping and hostage taking as well as piracy.
The confirmation came just as the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Iko Ishaya Ibrahim carried out a major shake up of the Navy hierarchy with the appointment of new Flag Officers Commanding and new Principal Staff Officers at the Naval headquarters.
Towards the new deployments, the Navy has sent 4 new MANTRA Class Seaward Defence boats with a configuration of 17 meters long, can run at 50 knots and carries a crew of 13 heavily armed combat personnel, to the general area of Bonny and Escravos sandwiched between Delta, Edo, Bayelsa and Cross Rivers states while another seven (7) Seaward Defence boats are deployed to the Port Harcourt axis to cover, Rivers, Bayelsa and Lagos areas.
Two (2) new Augusta Helicopters also acquired by the Navy are to be deployed to the area for air surveillance operations and patrol, to complement the efforts of the men at sea both inshore and offshore, and also to assist in search and rescue operations whenever the need arise.
Director of Information at Naval headquarters, Commodore David Nabaida, who made the confirmation in Abuja, explained that within the next six months, the presence of the Nigerian Navy would be felt more in the nation’s maritime space as more deployments would be further made when new platforms ordered by the Navy, arrive the country.
Emphasising that illegal oil bunkering, sea piracy, kidnapping and hostage taking have reduced drastically in the Niger Delta area thereby boosting the nation’s economic environment, Nabaida said it was as a result of the tremendous work the Navy was doing, taking on and curtailing the excesses of militants in the area pointing out that “Why the place is calm now is not because there are no problems of attacks or attempts to attack platforms and kidnap people, but we are tackling the situation”.
For the new Flag officers are, Rear Admiral Ola Sahad Ibrahim, formerly the Chief of Training and Operations at Naval headquarters, is the new Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Lagos; Rear Admiral Igwe Ben Acholonu, formerly the Naval Secretary, is the Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, Calabar.
Rear Admiral O. Oketa, formerly the Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, is the Flag Officer Commanding Logistics Command, Oghara, Delta State, Rear Admiral Ekwere U. Ekwere, formerly the Admiral Superintendent, Naval Ordinance Depot, is the new Flag Officer Commanding, Naval Training Command, Apapa.
The new Chief of Training and Operations at Naval headquarters is Rear Admiral Dele Ezoba, formerly the Director of Training, DHQ and Chairman, Task Force on Illegal Jetties and Illegal Operations in the Maritime environment.
Rear Admiral Sylvester Usoro, formerly Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, is the new Chief of Policy and Plans at Naval headquarters. He takes over from Rear Admiral Peter Adeniyi, Rear Admiral Garba Amodu, formerly of Defence headquarters, is the new Chief of Naval Engineering. He takes over from Rear Admiral Ademuluti.
Rear Admiral Goddy Akpollo, formerly Deputy Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, is the new Chief of Administration at Defence headquarters, Rear Admiral Bodunrin Adisa Raji, formerly the Flag Officer, Commanding Eastern Naval Command, is the Deputy Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna.
Rear Admiral S. A. Mohammed is the new Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, Lagos , Rear Admiral A. A. Macauley is Chief of Accountants and Budget, Rear Admiral Harry Arogundade formerly Flag Officer Commanding Logistics is redeployed to the Defence headquarters, Commodore Senebi Hungi Apuko, formerly Deputy Director, Defence Information is now Director, Veteran Services, Naval headquarters.
Commodore Usman Jibrin is the new Naval Secretary, Commodore D. O. Usuofa is the new Commodore Superintendent at Naval Ordinance Depot while Commodore A. B. Afolayan is the new Director of Medical Services. All the appointments take immediate effect.
Source: The Vanguard