Navy apprehends 35 illegal oil vessels in 7 months – Chief of Naval Staff

The Nigerian Navy has arrested more than 35 ships involved in oil theft in the nation’s waters.

The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, made this known during a meeting of maritime stakeholders on Tuesday in Abuja.

Ogalla stated that the arrested vessels were handed over to the appropriate prosecuting authorities.

According to him, the Navy had rejigged its operations and established Operation Delta Sanity in January and sustained it maritime security operations through surveillance, response capability and law enforcement in addition to collaboration with all maritime stakeholders.

The Naval chief assured the stakeholders of the Nigerian Navy’s commitment to the fulfilment of its statutory roles with a view to emplace a conducive maritime domain for the economic prosperity of the nation.

He further stated that the Navy was working to ensure that its operations do not constitute obstacles to the operators but rather contribute to them being able to perform their duties and produce optimally.

“Provision of security is part of ways of increasing promoting ease of doing business, because if there is no security, the operators cannot operate.

“Also ensuring that our arrests and detentions do not impede on the legitimate business operators, we ensure that when we make arrests,” he said.