The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Andrew Pocock, on Wednesday said his government was ready to support Nigeria in providing security in the Gulf of Guinea.
Pocock made this known in Lagos at a news conference on board ‘HMS IRON DUKE’, a visiting British War Ship.
He said, “Britain is a friend to Nigeria and is ready to support Nigeria in ensuring that activities of piracy and other illegal activities in the Gulf of Guinea are tackled.
“The security of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea matters profoundly to the British Government.
“We are, therefore, going to be working closely with the Nigerian Navy in ensuring that challenges of insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea are checked.
“We are ready to support Nigeria in the fight against illegal fishing, poaching, piracy and huge revenue losses along its coast.”
Pocock also restated his government’s commitment to building capacity of the Nigerian Navy, adding that the visit of some British companies to Nigeria was to showcase technological solutions to the nation’s security challenges.
The captain of the ship, Cdr. Tom Tredray, said that the British Navy was in Nigeria to train their Nigeria counterparts.
According to him, the two-day training will enhance the Nigerian Navy’s skills in navigation, engineering, maintenance of small boats, fire fighting and information exchange.
He said, “We believe we can jointly develop economically-sustainable technology, training and support solutions to achieve an integrated maritime security sector for the Nigerian Navy. Our cooperative solutions will directly deter illegal trade and criminal activities in the Gulf of Guinea.”
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.