The Nigerian Air Force and Nigerian Navy are working on a common strategy to deal with illegal activities along the Nigerian water ways. The partnership was adopted during a joint maritime operation codenamed Operation Saukan Mikiya, which was held recently. The Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore DELE ALONGE revealed in a statement that the operation will pay special attention to crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. He noted that criminal activities targeted on the oil sector often leads to environmental pollution, loss of lives and property and huge losses of revenue to the Federal Government.
The Air Force spokesman said such activities would soon become a thing of the past. He said the two-day Operation Saukan Mikiya was held around Port Harcourt, Brass River, Bonny River and seawards up to the Exclusive Economic Zone between third and fourth of September. During the exercise, the Nigerian Navy deployed some patrol boats along the creeks of Bonny and Brass Rivers, while the NNS Centenary and NNS Okpabanna were also positioned at the entry points into the rivers respectively to monitor and block suspicious vessels within the creeks and the high sea.
The Nigerian Air Force complimented the operation with its ATR 42 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to locate suspicious vessels within the creeks and high sea as well as to report positions, names and other details to the naval control on ground. The statement noted that the overall objective of the exercise was to enhance the security of Nigerian coastal resources and offshore interests by assessing the capabilities of the Air Force and the Navy in terms of monitoring and apprehending erring vessels.
