U.S. Coast guard cutter, Mohawk, arrives in Lagos
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo.. Photo/TWITTER/NIGNAVYTODAY
Seeks Partnership With Nigerian Navy
United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCG), Mohawk, has arrived in Lagos after 30-day voyage to Nigeria.
The U.S. ship arrived in Lagos on August 18 to establish meetings, work on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Navy at the Western Naval Command Headquarters, Apapa, as well as initiate military exercises and training.
U.S. Consul-General, Will Stevens; Mohawk’s Commanding Officer, Andrew Pate; Lt-Cmdre. Joseph Haynworth; Lt-Cmdre. Vicki Moore, Lt. Scott Ledoux and Lt. Danielle Garbarino were part of the visiting team.
The USCG ship was received by the Flag Officer Commanding West, Rear Admiral Yakubu Wambai, at the FOC Conference Room while lauding the collaborative efforts between both countries in achieving zero crime rates in Nigerian waters and improved efforts in securing the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
According to Wambai, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in April 2022, delisted Nigeria from the list of pirate states, which translates to zero incidents of piracy over the last 12 months.
Wambai said: “There have been indices and we have been working hard to achieve this. The IMB, sometime in April 2022, delisted Nigeria from the list of pirate states. That means we have not heard of any piracy incidents over the last 12 months. This is a collaborative effort, which is a deliberate effort; but it is also a planned work due to the leadership of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo.
“He has put in a task and timeline, and followed up with proper guidelines, ensuring that we maintain a close relationship with our foreign partners. This collaborative effort of maintaining presence at sea with them always being around led us to where we are.”
According to him, the Nigerian Navy is expected to receive a port call next week from India ship and in October United Kingdom ship in Lagos.
Speaking during the visit, Stevens congratulated the country for the exceptional feat, adding that the U.S. remains committed to supporting the Nigerian Navy in its efforts to secure its own territorial waters and those of GoG.
Stevens said: “I want to congratulate you for your impressive roles in achieving this impressive feat. We hope that through exercises, which will continue in the next few days with the Mohawk, we will continue to strengthen our relationship and our joint maritime capacities.
“Beyond these exercises, we are working on having an MoU that would allow Nigerian sailors to operate from U.S. ships such as the Mohawk and the U.S. sailors to operate from the Nigerian ships.”
