DHQ: We Will Continue to Innovate, Strategise to Defend Nigeria

* Nigerian Navy, UK Military commit to maritime security through VBSS training

Linus Aleke in Abuja and Esther Oluku in Lagos

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), yesterday, said it would continue to innovate and develop new strategies to defend the country and protect citizens from the perpetrators of insecurity.

It also noted that troops are in a good place in winning the war against terrorists.

A statement by Director Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said that no fewer than 44 illegal refining sites were uncovered and deactivated in the Niger Delta region.

Troops, Buba said, also recovered 602,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 64,900 litres of illegally refined AGO, and 12,690 litres of PMS.
Buba further disclosed that troops are eliminating more and more terrorist commanders and combatants on the battlefield through ongoing operations across the country.

He said the armed forces are determined and focused on destroying terrorist networks and infrastructure across the country.
He averred that during the week under review, troops killed 118 terrorists, arrested 97, in addition 18 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 96 kidnapped hostages.

He explained that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed four dugout pits, 48 boats, three speedboats, 156 drums and 34 storage tanks.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy (NN) and the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) have reaffirmed their commitment to continuous capacity building and enhanced security of Nigeria’s maritime domain through training as 20 NN Special Boat Service (SBS) personnel graduated from the Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) programme, yesterday.

The VBSS training was organised by the UK Commandos as part of efforts to boost the expertise of NNSBS personnel towards combating piracy, oil theft, human and drug trafficking, and other maritime crimes.

Through this training, the Nigerian Navy is poised to advance the cause of the safe passage of goods and persons on Nigeria’s national and international waterways.

Commander of the Joint Maritime Training Centre (JMTC), Commander Benjamin Audu Francis, speaking at the ceremony in Lagos, said that the training which started on September 2, provided an opportunity for the 20 participants to learn boarding techniques under the Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) programme and created an avenue for simulating other technical drills.

He expressed optimism that the participants will leverage the training to deliver more success as they advance in their careers.
He also lauded the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) for their professionalism and discipline.

In his words: “We continue to pray that the collaboration is sustained for future training opportunities. I was impressed by the professionalism and discipline of the BMATT and our participants. Their interest in learning too was very, very good.

“They maximised the learning opportunity. We thank the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, for approving the training, and we also pray that we have more training opportunities here in the center,” he said.

He added that already, six of the trained officers have gone on their first mission on board a Spanish Navy ship, VBR Pooja, for VBSS Serial, which is also part of the passing exercise.

On how the training would enhance operations, Commander Francis said, “We have ships at sea that are usually deployed for anti-piracy operations, and some of these men will have to board the vessels and search for anything that has to do with maritime crimes. And if the ship is found wanting, they will be interrogated and arrested.”

Team lead, BMATT and Captain, Royal Marines from 42 Command, Tom Pycock, explained that for the last four weeks they have been developing the VBSS capability of NNSBS.

“We have covered everything from close quarter combat in the buildings located around JMTC. From here, we have moved on to range work. We have done sniper, long distance shooting, along with both pistol and rifle close quarter marksmanship progressing the capability of the NNSBS and improving their speed and times on the shoots,” he said.