The Nigeria military,
in conjunction with Special Forces from the United Kingdom, United States,
Spain and Netherland have begun a joint training to enhance its capacity to
combat terrorism in the county’s maritime environment.
The foreign troops
will also train the military in six other countries in the sub-region in their
war against oil theft and other criminal activities in the gulf of Guinea.
Rear Adm. Babalola
Ogunjimi, the Nigerian Navy’s Chief of Training and Operations, disclosed this
at a news conference on Sunday in Abuja.
He said that 150 of
them are drawn from units of the Nigerian armed forces, Army, Navy and Air
Force while 739 are from the foreign Special Forces.
Ogunjimi said that the
training called ``African Winds’’, began on October 3, and expected to last for
14 days and would be followed by four days exercise.
He said that the
exercise would be conducted by Mobile Training Teams (MTTs) of the Special
Forces in Lagos and Calabar, respectively.
``It is expected that
the African Winds training and exercise will further improve the capacity of
the Nigerian armed forces to deal with numerous security challenges in the Gulf
of the Guinea. Thee-day exercise in Lagos will take place between October 15
and 18 at Ibeshe Beach and the Navy ordinance Depot (NOD) Waterfront.
``The exercise that
will be conducted in Lagos include Amphibious Raid, Maritime Counter Terrorism,
Vessel Boarding Stop and Search in an opposed environment and hydrographical
survey,’’ he said.
He said that the
Calabar exercise will hold between October 21 and 24 at the Tinapa and Muddy
Beach in the state and Oron Beach in Akwa Ibom.
The chief of
operations said that the ship to be used contains 688 troops, four helicopters
and six special boats called Landing Craft Utility (LCU) and Landing Craft
Vehicle Personnel (LCVP).
He said that other
facilities in the ship include Fast Raid Interception Special Forces Craft used
in inserting small number of specially trained troops from sea to land,
particularly in the creeks.
Other countries
covered by the programme are Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Benin and Cameroun.
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