The Nigerian Navy has organised a capacity training seminar for its officers aimed at equipping them with the relevant maritime laws and regulations.
The force said the training was part of efforts to boost maritime security along the nation’s territorial waters.
The seminar, which was organised by the department of Maritime Warfare at the Armed forces Staff and Command College, Jaji, Kaduna State, is an annual event designed to create a forum for discussion on issues relating to the maritime environment.
The event was also based on ensuring that the Nigerian Navy personnel conduct their operations within the bounds of the 1986 United Nations Convention for Law of the Sea, which Nigeria was a signatory. It was also part of the senior course curriculum of the college.
Addressing reporters at the event, Deputy Commandant of the college, Rear Admiral Sylvanus Abbah, emphasised the important role of the Nigerian Navy in policing the nation’s maritime space, which he said included fighting Sea Pirates, Pipeline Vandals and Oil Thieves.
He explained that certain aspects of the maritime laws had been contravened by officers and men in discharging their functions.
“The seminar was held to update the knowledge and capacity of the officers in observing such laws while discharging their duties.”
The Deputy Commandant also stressed the need for strong cooperation between the Navy and other relevant stakeholders in the maritime industry in order to effectively secure the nation’s maritime environment.
Nigeria is a littoral state with a coastline of 420 nautical miles, and a vast sea space of 84,000 square nautical miles.
Within this areas are living and non-living resources such as fish and crude oil which account for about 90 percent of the nation’s foreign earnings.
However, this economic activities has continued to attract some security challenges with attendant legal implications in recent times.
Some of the security challenges include pipeline vandalism, piracy, oil theft and illegal oil refineries among others.
To checkmate this challenges, the Nigerian Navy had gathered 49 of its officers across the country to build their capacity and also improve their ability to extend the rule of law within their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.
The college’s deputy commandant said the seminar was also necessary and timely for the Nigerian Navy in its quest to extend her continental shelf, especially with the current heightened military, diplomatic and economic interests in the Gulf of Guinea.
The policing role of the Nigerian Navy, aimed at ensuring that the nation’s maritime space is conducive for economic activities, cannot be overemphasised.
With the training, it is expected that the service while carrying out such enormous responsibilities, would do so in line with the laws of the sea.