The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla has advocated for the establishment of special courts dedicated to maritime crimes to ensure effective and efficient justice delivery.
Ogalla stated this on Thursday while presenting the 2024 Distinguished Personality Lecture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
The CNS who was received by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Polycarp Chigbu and other professors of the institution, according to a statement by Navy’s spokesman, Commodore Aiwuyor Adams- Aliu, spoke on the theme “Safeguarding Nigeria’s Blue Economy Potentials:: The Role of the Nigerian Navy”.
The CNS while highlighting some challenges facing the Navy, noted that the non-diligent prosecution of maritime crimes, which often times hinder effective justice remains a major challenge.
Speaking on the huge potentials of the nation’s maritime domain, Ogalla emphasized the need to effectively protect and efficiently harness these resources to boost the nation’s economy.
These resources include oil and gas assets valued at over 40bn USD with the potentials to increase to about 120bn USD. Additionally, it is estimated that Nigeria’s Maritime Domain holds an estimated 36 billion barrels of oil and 182 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
To safeguard these resources, Ogalla said the Navy has employed several strategies which are yielding the desired effects.
According to him, these strategies include; the Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy (TSMS), NN Trinity of Action comprising Surveillance, Response Capability and Law Enforcement.
They also include the NN’s Operational Responses particularly “OPERATION DELTA SANITY” which was launched in January 2024 to eliminate Crude Oil Theft.
He said the operation has denied oil thieves huge amount of crude oil and refined products worth billions of naira including the arrest of over 35 ships, 65 suspects and deactivation of over 827 Illegal refining sites.
