LAGOS, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Navy on Wednesday deployed six warships and 65 gunboats in a joint multinational maritime exercise comprising navies from 16 countries.
The participating countries are the U.S., France, Italy, Brazil, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Others are Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Republic of Congo, and Sao Tome and Principe.
Perry Onwuzulike, the Fleet Commander, Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, flagged off the four-day exercise tagged "Exercise Grand Africa Nemo 2020".
Onwuzulike said the exercise was aimed at developing the capacity of the various navies for maritime security operations within the Gulf of Guinea countries.
He added that the Exercise Grand Africa Nemo 2020 is a yearly ritual that is organized by the French government in collaboration with the United States and European Union, among others.
The objective of the exercise, according to the naval officer, is for capacity development toward maritime interdiction operations and security operations in the area.
"The exercise is a continuous exercise toward securing the nation's territorial waters and the Gulf of Guinea," he said.
According to Onwuzulike, the exercise would also be used to train troops on the use of the nation's maritime domain awareness infrastructure for surveillance and threat assessment. Enditem
