Nigerian Port Authority has on Wednesday handed over 18 hectares of land at Tarkwa Bay in Lagos State to Nigerian Navy for the establishment of a Forward Operating Base.
Prior to now, the issue of a FOB had lingered between the NPA and NN since 2010.
In his acceptance remark, Rear Adm. Oladele Daji, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command represented by Rear Adm. Tanko Pani, Chief Staff Officer, assured that the land would be used by Nigerian Navy judiciously for the purpose for which it was given.
He said that the FOB would further checkmate nefarious activities within the Island and the high seas.
Rear Adm. Tanko Pani expressed;
It is a shared vision that the proposed base will further checkmate the nefarious activities of criminal elements and other miscreants on the high seas and on Tarkwa Bay Island, while enhancing the safety and security of navigation within our waters in line with our collective mandate.
He explained that the Tarkwa Bay Island had been under siege due to the activities of the unpatriotic Nigerians who carried out piracy and vandalism of the NNPC pipeline, as well as involve in other criminal activities which necessitated the authorisation of ‘Operation Kurombe’ by the defence headquarters.
According to him, the operation had dislodged the criminals and their collaborators from their hideouts outside the island, and also helped in the arrest of some suspected vandals, confiscation of nine trucks of which six were fully loaded with siphoned petroleum products from NNPC pipelines.
On his part, General Manager of Lands in NPA, Ahmed Yusuf, said;
We are pleased with the partnership we have with the Nigerian Navy, it has been a long one and we believe that the establishment will go a long way to strengthen the relationship between both parties in securing the facilities.
Yusuf also hoped that ceding the land to Navy would quell the threat from the miscreants both on the island and in the water.
He said the facility consists of an 18 hectares land, some chalets and other development.
