…insists Kano not only landlocked area with Service’s presence
The Nigerian Navy has said its decision to establish a Logistics College in Kano was informed by “growth and development imperatives.”
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, who said this during an Open Ears Conference 2 with media executives, added that the college would offer support for the armed forces in their counterinsurgency in the North.
Gambo said Navy’s Special Forces are deeply involved in the counterinsurgency. The clarification came against the backdrop of criticism over the presence of the Navy in Kano located in the Sahel Savannah region.
But, the CNS has justified the decision, saying the college was only separated from the Finance and Logistics College in Owerinta, Abia State, which is a landlocked zone like Kano. “Let me use this opportunity to clarify that what the Navy established in Kano is a logistic college.
Granted, the establishment of this college has thrown up a lot of questions, but it has also afforded us the opportunity to she some light on our establishments across the nation and some of the programmes that we have as far as developing capacity and providing support for civil authority is concerned,” Gambo said.
He added, “For clarity, the Nigerian Navy has a finance and logistics college that is located in Owerinta, somewhere between Abia and Owerri.
“This college is responsible for the training of both personnel in the area of logistics and finance. But due to the growth and development imperatives, it was considered that the colleges should be separated. And the Logistics College was moved to Kano.
“So, what we are establishing in Kano is our Logistics College, while our Finance College remains in Owerinta. But now, Owerinta is not the only land locked location which we have an establishment, we also have our Provost and Regulatory School in Makurdi where we train our personnel in Naval Provost Duties. “I would also like to clarify that it is not only these bases that mark our presence in the North.
“Let me also add that the Logistics College that was established in Kano was established alongside two other naval bases that will be performing full maritime operations.
At Oguta Lake, we are establishing a Forward Operating Base (FOB) because of increasing activities of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN), as well as the sabotage of our oil and gas facilities. We are working alongside other agencies in the area to combat these threats.
“Also in Lagos, Lekki area, we are also establishing a base. Lekki is a thresh that holds a lot of investment, critical to the eco nomic wellbeing of Nigeria, the petrol that we consume in Nigeria lands in the Lagos offshore and it is from there that it is transported to other towns and distributed for consumption across the length and breadth of Nigeria.”
The Naval Chief said the Navy has over 170 personnel fighting alongside the Army and Air force in the North. Gambo said, “In the North- West where we have a joint task force, the Navy has over 200 personnel that are fighting to counter banditry and all the other issues of insecurity there.
In the North-Central, we also have about 100 men working alongside our colleagues to combat banditry, kidnapping and all the issues relating to insecurity.
“Operation Safe Corridor, the outfit responsible for the surrendered terrorists and bandits working alongside other government agencies, the Navy is represented there. We have about 15 personnel working there.
We also have our presence in Operation Safe Haven, the operation going on in the Plateau and Southern Kaduna to combat issues relating to herders and farmers clashes in this area.”
