Most illegal refineries shut down, says naval chief

The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, has said most illegal refineries within the maritime domain have been destroyed.

He said piracy had also reduced in the last one year.

Also, the Navy has concluded plans to establish safe corridors on the waterways where protection would be provided for merchant vessels.

Ibas spoke yesterday at the NNS Quorra Apapa yard in Lagos after his biannual inspection of facilities and command in Lagos area.

The naval chief noted that the volume of trade through Nigeria’s waters had increased, attributing this to enhanced security.

He said: “In the last one year, the navy has been performing. We have been out at sea, training and providing infrastructure, welfare and administrative supports. So far, I think the results are there to speak for themselves.

“We have been able to considerably bring down cases of piracy on our waters. This is well noticed in the volume of trade that is taking place out there. The exports and imports of goods in Nigeria have increased. We are also rated a secure fishing environment and we are having more fishing activities taking place. So, this and all others are the positive impacts our operations have done for the nation’s economy.

“The navy has shut down most illegal refineries and we have been able to bottle up activities of criminals and prevent them from going to sea.

“We have also got most of the boats they used out there, that is boats with 200 horsepower engines and above through the support of our regulatory bodies. So, the navy is still on their trail to ensure they do not go out.”

On what the navy was doing to curtail sea robbery, Ibas said choke points had been provided for the over 5,000 backwater channels, saying the service had also enhanced its surveillance technology.

said criminals, whose source of funds had been blocked were the ones venturing into sea robbery.

“Occasionally, you have robbery incidents that occur on land and when you pursue these guys, they find the sea especially the backwaters available for their illegal operations.

“Besides, the navy does not have access to most of these backwaters because they are not navigable. That is why we adopted the choke point system.”

On the purpose for the tour, Ibas said: “Usually, at the end of the year, we schedule to go round and appraise the state of readiness of our navy. That is what we have done in the past few days in Lagos area.

“We will continue the same exercise in other commands across the country. Our mandate is to ensure that we provide maritime security and an enabling environment for seafarers. It is also important that we keep the men abreast of what is happening in respect to security of the nation…”

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