Juliana Francis
One fact became crystal clear on October 18, 2013: That fact is that Nigerian forces, especially the Navy are as good as their foreign counterparts and will perform excellently well in hostile or war situations requiring operational attacks on water and land.
For days now, the ship, HNLMS Rotterdam has been on the shore of the Nigerian Waters, at Apapa Wharf, Lagos State. The Netherland Navy ship landed in Nigeria with a full crew. The Netherland ascribed the presence of the ship in Nigeria as evidence that it was willing to partner with its Nigerian counterpart to ensure that adequate maritime security was provided within the Gulf of guinea in other to encourage maritime trade.
The Rotterdam was also in Nigeria as part of the African Partnership Station (APS) programme for maritime environment workshop and to join hands with Netherlands African Business Council (NABC) to create opportunities for Dutch businesses in West Africa and as well increase regional prosperity.
The visit was also to improve the rule of law within their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones and better combat illegal fishing, human smuggling, drug trafficking, oil theft and piracy.
Tagged ‘African Winds 2013,’ the visit, was a Dutch-led international deployment supporting the African Partnership Station (APS) initiative developed by United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa, which works cooperatively with U.S. and international partners to improve maritime safety and security in Africa as part of US Africa Command’s Security Cooperation programme.
The exercise had been the height of discussions among security forces, but the discussions soon came to a halt and actions were aptly displayed by the Nigerian Forces at Tarkwa Bay, Island, on Friday.
People who came to the exercise with the belief that nothing good could come of Nigerians, were pleasantly surprised as the Nigerian counterparts kept admirable paces with their international colleagues. Thunderous applauds greeted the performances of the forces.
The fictitious scenario for the onslaught goes thus: “A criminal and political militant group in Badagry Creek known as BARA had consistently attacked oil companies and carried out illegal oil bunkering and kidnapping activities. Proceeds from the illegal bunkering activities were used to buy arms. Over the years, BARA had become well established and controlled IBESHE Island. Currently, BARA exerted significant influence on IBESHE Island. The Government Authorities on the Island lost control and order. Consequently, a Multinational Amphibious Task Force comprising of Netherland, United States, United Kingdom, Spain and Nigeria Forces had been deployed to route En Forces from the Island, secure stability in the local area and establish order rule of law.”
The exercise started with the forces arriving at the hostile area in boats after they had been dropped off by the war ship. Bombs exploded smoke enveloped most of the areas. The adversary forces kept up an admirably gun attacks on the arriving forces and helicopter from the Nigerian/multi-international forces flew to and fro. The scene looked like a hazard raid at first glance, but it was in a reality an organised raid, giving the forces arriving in the war boats, cover and opportunity to land on the Island, penetrate and take over the headquarters of the adversary forces.
Speaking about the exercise, Chief of Naval Staff, Nigerian Navy, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, said: “What’s important is that we’ve just concluded exercise ‘African winds.’ This exercise was conceived as part of strategic engagement with our international partners. For ‘African winds,’ we have five participating countries. The UK, Spain, Netherlands, Nigeria and United States of America, under the APS, which is African Partnership Station.
“The APS is an anchor of the African command of the US. And what we’ve done over the years is that we have multi-international exercises across the spectrum of our maritime security. What you’re seeing today, is another milestone recorded in the area of our strategic partnership with these countries, all aimed at trying to ensure a secured and safe maritime space. Maritime security is the responsibility of everybody, because the oceans are things of the world, which are common heritage to mankind.
“There is this concerted effort of the sub regional and multi regional level to ensure that we continue to cooperate and collaborate, because that is the new paradigm in terms of security imperative. There’s no one country that can manage the challenges alone. What we do is to aggregate this opportunity and to help us to further develop our human capacity at typical expenses that would further create that impetuous we need for an enhanced maritime security, not just for Nigeria, but for the Gulf of Guinea by extension, and that is what you see happening here today.
“Let me quickly say that these sorts of exercises are quite expensive. The planning is elaborate and requires a lot of robust thinking and logistics. This is the second of its kind this year. And I think if we can get two annually, then it’s a big plus and a lot value addition to what we do as a country.
“Importantly, in the course of this exercise today, we have elements of the Nigerian army, Nigerian Air force, Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Police as host country capabilities, which we have brought to bear, in partnership with our international partners. So you can see, that even at our national level, there is a lot of synergy, we sought between the military and paramilitary agencies. That is the new transformation initiative that Mr. President had given us mandate to deliver.”
The Director of Trade and Industry Support of the Kingdom of Netherland, Rear Admiral B. Bekering said of the exercise: “This exercise has proved to, not just the military, but to you, representing the population of Nigeria, that international cooperation, leads to gain for everybody.
“All our economy depends on maritime security. Maritime security is not something one nation can do alone. We need to do that in a combined, joint effort. Not just military but also with our civil partners. This exercise also demonstrated that if you look at the military side of life, we really pack a punch and make the difference. Credit must go to all those who participated in the training, especially our Nigerian partners.
“The exercise shows that we can take people, who had taken laws into their own hands. The military is not there to punish people. We are there as instrument of government, to take out those who make issues with the law and for the other government bodies, to decide what to do with them. This exercise was meant to go in, with a small, but highly trained force, from the sea to capture renegades and to bring them to face the law. This is an ongoing process. This programme has been running since 2007 and 2008, with continual participation by the Nigerian forces, in particular, the Nigerian Navy.”
Africa Partnership Station is a strategic program designed to build the skills, expertise and professionalism of African militaries, coast guards and mariners. The program is delivered in form of ship visits, aircraft visits, training teams, and US Navy construction projects amongst others. APS is part of a long-term commitment on the part of all participating nations and organizations from Africa, the United States, Europe, and South America. The aim of APS is to build maritime safety and security by increasing maritime awareness, response capabilities and infrastructure. APS activities consist of port visits, hands-on practical courses, professional training, community outreach and joint exercises like Ex African Winds with the coastal nations of Africa.
As a maritime security cooperation program, APS seeks to improve capabilities with partner naval forces using four “pillars” to increase maritime safety and security. These pillars are: Develop Maritime Domain Awareness—maintaining a clear picture of the maritime environment. Build maritime professionals. Establish maritime infrastructure and Develop response capabilities while building regional integration. The first APS deployment was from November 2007 to April 2008. Details of APS activities in Nigeria include: Maritime Security Seminar. Maritime Environmental Protection Seminar. Maritime Counterterrorism Training and Vessel Boarding Search and Rescue. All in a bid to enhance Nigeria’s ability to secure her maritime environment within the Gulf of Guinea.
The Nigeria Navy authourity said: “It is in line with this that the African Winds exercise was activated in Nigeria on 13 October 2013, under the sponsorship of the NETHERLAND. It is worthy to note that this Exercise started in Morocco, then in Senegal, Ghana, Benin Republic, now in Nigeria and is to terminate in the Republic of Cameroun.
“Exercise AFRICAN WINDS is being conducted in Nigeria in two phases. The first phase is codenamed EXERCISE AFEFE EKO, which we are here witnessing and the other is EXERCISE OFUM EFIK, which is scheduled to take place in Calabar between 20 and 24 of October 2013. AFEFE EKO is simply translated as LAGOS WINDS. EXERCISE AFEFE EKO commenced last Friday 11 October 2013 and is climaxing today. The EX has consisted of reconnaissance operations of the objective area which are IBESHE ISLAND and TARKWA BAY, where we are now located. Also, insertion of Special Forces and troops has been conducted in IBESHE ISLAND. Additionally, a Visit and lastly, an Amphibious Raid will be conducted here in TARKWA BAY to climax the EXERCISE AFEFE EKO. Permit me to acquaint you with actual participants of EXERCISE AFEFE EKO. The Nigerian participants are the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, Naval Air Station and Nigerian Army 65 Battalion. The Nigerian Army 65 Bn is one of the Battalions under the 81 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army.
“Asides the Nigerian contingents for this Exercise, there are foreign countries partnering in the execution of this EXERCISE. The countries include the NETHERLANDS, USA, UK and SPAIN. These countries are ably represented by their marines which are onboard Netherland ship, the Rotterdam. These whole forces make up the multinational amph task force that will be executed today’s Amph Raid on TAKWA BAY.”
No comments:
Post a Comment