Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, has said that the constant attacks on vessels en route Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG) is embarrassing.
Speaking at the weekend during an inspection of some of the Deep Blue Project equipment in Lagos, Amaechi decried the embarrassment which incessant attacks on ships by pirates have caused Nigeria but reiterated government’s determination to rid the nation’s waters of criminal activities.
Amaechi, who was accompanied on the tour by the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd), Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok Ete Ibas and the director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh, said while 85 percent of the assets have been delivered, others are still expected.
He said NIMASA has taken delivery of critical equipment needed for its Deep Blue Project that is expected to be fully operational by first quarter of 2021.
The Deep Blue Project, which is the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, aims to tackle insecurity on Nigeria’s territorial waters.
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“No matter how embarrassing the situation is, the fact that the Federal Government is addressing it is most important. We are determined to make it work and now it worked so just be patient and give us some more time.
“We have said that we expect all the equipment to arrive by March next year and we expect that training for the operators of the equipment should be able to end before March,” he said.
He said that only the helicopters are being awaited and that every other thing has arrived.
“We hope to receive the helicopters by the first quarter of next year. I don’t know when the assets will be deployed because that is a security question. Allow the security men to meet with us the policymakers and then we will conclude,” he said.
In his remarks, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd), Minister of Defence, said the ongoing efforts to deploy all assets needed for the project shows the level of preparedness of the government to tackle insecurity on the nation’s waters.
“We have always been prepared but our coming here today will further increase the preparedness of the Nigerian Navy and the security of our waters. We have commenced training of the naval personnel that will man the equipment and we hope to complete their training by next year,” he said.
Continuing, Magashi: “The visit was just to see the level of compliance of our platforms in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri. We are satisfied with what we have on ground, there is a lot of improvement but we hope very soon, we will complete the project,” he said.
Bashir Jamoh, director-general of NIMASA, restated the agency’s commitment to ensuring the success of the Deep Blue Project with the collaboration of other government agencies.
He disclosed that 67 staff of the agency have so far been trained for the project.
Some of the equipment inspected at the site include antennas for special mission vessel, drones, weapon site, CPR kit, C4i centre, special mission vessels, satellite communication centre, among others.
