Nigeria Content Online

Ahead of next
week’s governorship and state House of Assembly elections in Delta
State, the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta yesterday carried out a small
exercise for its marines.

Over 15
ready-to-deploy naval vehicles, aided with navy helicopter, ‘Augusta
09’, high-speed cruising yacht, and two marshal-class gunboats were
among the equipment rolled out for action in the Delta waterways.

The fleet would be
used on 26th of April, 2011 to assist the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) in ensuring the smooth governorship and
state House of Assembly elections, the Commanding Officer of the unit,
Henry Babalola, said.

Mr Babalola, who
led other senior naval officers, said the exercise was directed by the
Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) to check the preparedness of the Navy for
the election.

“The operation
today is to assure the citizenry that we are ready to provide an
enabling environment for the successful conduct of the gubernatorial
and House of Assembly, as well as National Assembly that were postponed
in some states,” he said.

“The show of force
is a directory given to us by the CNS as part of our statutory duty to
help INEC in critical areas such as use of naval helicopters to convey
materials to areas that are not accessible by land and to escort INEC
boats to take materials to the riverine communities,” Mr. Babalola
said.

The commanding
officer of NNS Delta said the Navy was committed to providing adequate
security in the waterways to safeguard the electoral materials and INEC
personnel.

“All the naval
fleets paraded during the flag-show would be deployed for consistent
patrol of the waterways as part of its statutory function to provide
security for the polls on water and land, as well as check influx of
people in the waterways during the elections,” he further said.

Mr Babalola also
said there is heavy security arrangement for Delta State, saying
besides its consistent patrol of the waterways, the NNS Delta would
contribute a platoon to aid the Joint Task Force (JTF) in its
‘Operation Restore Hope’ as well as a ready-to-deploy standby platoon
in case of emergency.

“Every of our
fleets and personnel would be on election duty and we are looking at a
strength of almost 1700 personnel ready-to-be deploy on that day,” he
stated.

Closed waterways

He further said two
marshal-class boats would patrol the Escravos waterways while its
capital ships, ‘NNS Zaria and NNS Ogulawaba’ would be rolled out to
patrol the sea to check influx of foreigners sneaking into the country
during the election.

The commanding
officer said one of the fastest boats on the NN fleet, Marshal-class
boat and another power gunboat, Papa 219, would be rolled out in
addition to deployment of more personnel for consistent patrol of the
waterways in the state.

He added that
throughout the period of the election, movement would be restricted in
the waterways to check influx of people in the waterways.

“We would keep
patrolling the waterways to dominate it and prevent illegal activities.
The no movement order on land is also applicable on the waters as from
8am. We will not expect to find people or persons moving on the
waterway at this time. The curfew will be strictly enforced on the
waters until the end of it all and anybody find moving at this time
would be arrested and release after the elections,” he said.