The Naval War College Nigeria has called for inter-agency cooperation to curb the rampant cases of smuggling in the maritime sector. The erstwhile Commandant of the College, Rear Admiral, Adeseye Ayobanjo, made the appeal at a seminar on Inter-Agency Cooperation in Maritime Security on Wednesday in Calabar. themed “Combating Smuggling through Inter-agency Cooperation”. Rear Admiral Ayobanjo said that the seminar was organised by the college to enhance maritime security and promote inter-agency cooperation, noting that the maritime sector had over the years been used as a route for smuggling activities, adding that such trend undermined the security and growth of Nigeria. “Overtime, we have had maritime security challenges. We have several stakeholders operating in this environment in spite of the fact that the Nigerian Navy is the lead agency in the maritime sector. “We require a lot of synergy with other agencies in this regard”.
The seminar is part of a module in the Naval Warfare Course, where participants are trained on enhancing the synergy between the navy and other maritime stakeholders in the maritime domain. Other heads of security agencies present at the seminar included those of the Customs, the Nigerian Air Force, Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.