The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ekwe Ibas has said that the Nigerian Navy will address the bombing of oil and gas pipelines by militants in Delta State as an act of terrorism. He said this was because the attack was capable of undermining their efforts towards sanitising the maritime sector. He said this at a lecture he delivered at the National Defence College.
“The incident that just happened recently is rather unfortunate and of course that cannot be taken lightly by any serious nation and of course the Nigerian Navy is not going to take it lightly as well.
“We have made it clear that it goes beyond just mere vandalism for the purpose of making any gains; this is absolute sabotage, something that can even be termed terrorism.
“If the guys were doing that to derive benefit from the destruction then one will say it is vandalism but that is not the case,” Ibas said.
He said the Navy was enhancing its response capability by acquiring more vessels like logistics ships, patrol boats and other necessary vessels. He lamented inadequate funding, inadequate accommodation for personnel and contemporary threats to maritime security and poor industrial base as challenges militating against the actualisation of the Navy’s broad objectives.