Imoke Solicits More Resources For Navy
CALABAR, June 07, (THEWILL) - Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State has called on the Federal Government to make available additional resources to the Nigerian Navy to enable it procure additional boats to secure the nation’s territorial waters.
Speaking while receiving Rear Admiral Usman O. Jibrin, Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Eastern Naval Command during a courtesy call, in Calabar,Tuesday, Imoke noted that there has been a rise in the rate of piracy and militancy within the water boundary between Nigerian and Cameroon as a result of the ceding of Bakassi and recommended a joint military patrol to ensure safety of lives and property as well as the image of the country.
Imoke described Calabar which is the Headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command as an integral part of the navy because it equally harbours the headquarters of NNS Victory, explaining that Cross Riverians have benefited tremendously from the navy with the location of both its hospital and its numerous schools within the State.
The governor noted that the State has enjoyed relative peace and serenity within the Niger Delta because of the presence of the Nigerian Navy as it has made effort to combat crime while commending the navy for showing high sense of commitment within the State and sustaining the cordial relationship and cooperation between the navy and civilians.
He lauded the navy for sinking a borehole in Akpabuyo Local Government Area as part of activities marking its fifty-fifth anniversary celebration, adding that its assistance to the state should be cherish for a long time.
Rear Admiral Usman O. Jibrin, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, who assumed duties in the Command since November 2010, thanked the State Government for its support to the Command headquarters as well as NNS Victory Calabar especially in the donation of a boat to the navy to ensure effective patrol of the nation’s territorial waters while expressing in anticipation for additional ones.
Jibrin disclosed that the boats will enhance the combat to check the excesses of pirates and militants within the buffer zone between Nigeria and Cameroon especially now that the incidence of such activities in that area is alarming and thanked the governor for appealing to the Presidency to ensure that a joint patrol between the navy and police within the area is enforced to check piracy and militancy.
The FOC disclosed that the navy enjoys tremendous support from the State mostly in the monthly allocation of petroleum products to facilitate its operations which has enhanced its activities with the nation’s territorial waters.
He said as part of the naval week activity to mark its fifty-fifth years celebration, they sank a borehole in Akpabuyo Local Government Area which the benefiting community expressed satisfaction.