The Nigerian Navy has opened a maritime surveillance and intelligence fusion centre to monitor piracy and ship movements throughout the Gulf of Guinea from the Eastern Naval Command base in Calabar.
Speaking at the centre’s inauguration ceremony, Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral Joseph Aikhomu said the new facility, which is equipped with radar and satellite monitoring equipment, will enhance the navy’s intelligence gathering capacity as it continues to battle piracy and oil bunkering across the Gulf of Guinea.
The United States, which is already funding a number of joint border security projects with Nigeria, has pledged to donate more surveillance equipment to monitor the country’s porous borders in a broader crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Interior Minister Patrick Abba Moro said more than 19,000 illegal immigrants have been deported from the country since the latest resurgence of fighting between Boko Haram insurgents and the security forces.