Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commissioned into service four recently acquired warships, with two more to be commissioned before the end of the year.
The vessels that were handed over to their commanding officers at the Naval Dockyard at Victoria Island in Lagos were the NNS Centenary, NNS Prosperity, NNS Okpabana and NNS Sagbama, reports the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Nigerian Navy (NN) said it was the first time in its history that four warships would be commissioned at once. “It is a demonstration of the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition the Nigerian Navy to meet contemporary security challenges. The addition of the ships will enhance the Nigerian Navy’s ongoing and acknowledged efforts at improving security in the nation’s maritime environment,” the Navy said.
The NNS Okpabana is the former United States Coast Guard cutter USCGC Gallatin and will be used to patrol Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The vessel arrived in Nigeria on January 2 this year, joining the Navy’s other Hamilton class cutter NNS Thunder.
The NNS Centenary is a new P-18N offshore patrol vessel built by China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company (CSOC). She arrived in Nigeria on February 6 and will be used for maritime surveillance, EEZ patrol and protecting offshore resources and infrastructure, according to Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin. “The Centenary is to also provide aid to civil authority when called upon to do so in period such as civil unrest and natural disaster among others,” he said
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Nigerian Navy commissions four new warships
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