A Nigerian Navy top brass has said that actions by the navy have reduced criminality in vital waterway to lowest level in almost three decades , Vice-Admiral Awwal Gambo says that the economic and security implications for the littoral are massive.

“The presence of Nigerian Navy ships at sea has denied criminal elements freedom of action”, says Vice-Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo in an exclusive interview in the London-based pan-African publication, New African magazine.

Speaking with the magazine’s Editor, Anver Versi, Admiral Gambo added: “This has brought about marked decline in piracy and armed attacks against shipping as well as other criminal activities in the nation’s maritime domain.”

He was referring to the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) which forms a vital transport, economic and security waterway to 16 West African nations, including Nigeria. “The GoG has a coastline of about 2,874 nm stretching from Angola in Southern Africa to Senegal in West Africa,” said Admiral Gambo. It also has some of the world’s richest deposits of hydrocarbons.

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Over the past two decades, the GOG has been plagued by pirates and smugglers who have carried out a spate of criminal activities, including kidnapping for ransom and stealing oil. Last year, Nigeria’s Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said that the country lost around $26bn a year to criminal activities at sea. 

The interview with Admiral Gambo was part of an in-depth feature on the role of the Nigerian Navy, regarded as one of the best equipped and trained in Africa, in dramatically reducing the number of incidents and increasing the number of arrests of criminals over the past two years.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Global Piracy Report of 14 July 2021, indicated the lowest total of piracy and sea robbery against ships in 27 years.

Admiral Gambo attributed this success to the quality of the navy’s dedicated personnel as well as its state-of-the art fleet and other advanced platforms such as helicopters and the Falcon Eye, real-time surveillance system that spans the entire Nigerian coastline.

In December, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned several new sea craft and a helicopter during a ceremony held at the Naval Dockyard Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Commending the sterling work being done by the navy to safeguard the country’s economic mainstay, he added that he was particularly pleased to see that the fleet included the third Seaward Defence Boat to be built locally and entirely by Nigerian Navy engineers.

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In his New African interview, Admiral Gambo said it was the responsibility of the navy to safeguard Nigeria’s maritime environment which “constitutes the nation’s economic centre of gravity.” The Nigerian Navy’s successes in the GoG have enormous economic and security implications in the entire GoG littoral and many economies will now be able to heave a huge sigh of relief.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry