The Nigerian Navy Saturday said its operations in the nation’s territorial waters in the last two years led to the arrest of over 15,000 rogue vessels.
It said top among the arrest is the recent arrest of MT HEROIC IDUN, which it said attempted to load crude oil in Bonny without authorisation.
The immediate past Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, made the disclosure shortly before he was pulled/sailed out of the Nigerian Navy.
Recounting some of his achievements during his tenure as the 21st Chief of Naval Staff, he said the surveillance capability also led to a reduction in marine crime within the nation’s waters.
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He said during his tenure, about ten pirates arrested for different infractions in the nation’s water were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for the first time in July 2020.
He said it was achieved through the enactment of the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act by the federal government in 2019.