The Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral David Adeniran says the command is tracking all vessels coming into the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Rear Admiral Adeniran disclosed this during the tour of facilities of the command by the Senate Committee on Navy led by Senator George Sekibo.

He said the command has facilities like the Falcon Eye and the RMAC which it deploys to monitor all inbound vessels, just as it has stepped up its coronavirus surveillance at all entry points within the Eastern Naval Command.

“In terms of entry, the moment we have any information that any ship is coming into Nigeria, we keep track of that vessel and we have facilities like the Falcon Eye and the RMAC with which we track the movement of the vessel.

“We track the movement of the vessel for the past 30 days and know which waters they have been to and from there we monitor and direct accordingly. Of course, the Navy has the means to reach out to stop the vessel and know where they are coming from. With that, we are able to advise the port management or the onshore oil facilities accordingly.

“So far there is no reported case through the waterways. Of course, we had a situation where at the onset of this pandemic we had a particular ship that came from one of the affected countries and we took appropriate action until a decision was taken that it was cleared to enter our waters without issue and the vessel was given a clean health bill,” he said.

The Commander said as it did during the Ebola Virus outbreak, the Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar has taken appropriate measures to ensure that any issue that emerges in this environment are tackled and also ensure that coronavirus is properly handled in its environment.

He added that the Navy authorities raised its alert level in line with the directive of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas who at the onset of the pandemic gave instruction that the command should ensure maximum compliance with health and safety procedures to check the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, the Chairman Senate Committee on Navy, George Sekibo said Senate will review budgetary allocation and requests from the Navy because of its efforts in protecting the nation’s waterways.

“We have seen some improvements especially in your efforts to put an end to illegal refinery operations.

“Though we have seen these things, it is important that we embark on this tour so as to engage with you. We will take your requests home with a view to reviewing them. Ours is to stand by you and ensure the provision of the things you need for your work,” he said.

Rear Admiral David Adeniran had told the committee that the commitment of the Navy in infrastructural development was yielding dividend, adding that this would not have been possible without the support of the National Assembly.

He said because of the connection between maritime security and the economic wellbeing of the nation and the Navy has continued to be committed to maritime security.

He listed the command’s achievements such as the swamp Buggy Operation that led to the destruction of 204 illegal refineries and seizure of 20,319.9MT of AGO, the seizure of 27,701MT of smuggled crude oil and 24,990 bags of rice.