One of the United States Coast Guard boats which has been identified as Cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913) has finally berthed at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard in Lagos in lieu of its previous announcement.
It has also been detailed that some of the Mohawk officers will be meeting with Nigerian Navy leadership at the Western Navy Command Headquarters in Apapa and host some of the ship tours for government and military officials.
Read Also: Over 17 Migrants Found Dead On Libya Beach – Coast Guard
The ship will also be conducting two days of at-sea engagements with the Nigerian Navy to promote maritime security cooperation.
Consul General Will Stevens had also announced that the arrival buttresses America’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in its efforts to secure territorial waters and the greater Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
“Cooperation and the ability to operate together in the maritime domain are necessary to enhance Nigeria’s capacity to counter piracy, oil bunkering, illegal fishing, and other sea-based illicit activities”, Stevens noted.
Stevens, Mohawk’s Commanding Officer Andrew Pate and Rear Admiral Yakubu Wambai, Western Naval Commander, discussed the U.S. and Nigeria’s shared commitment to a safe GoG.
In another report, the bodies of no fewer than 17 migrants were on Wednesday found washed up on a Libyan beach after their boat capsized during a bid to reach Europe by sea, the coast guard have disclosed.
Libya is a major departure point for desperate migrants, tens of thousands of whom board unseaworthy boats every year in attempts to reach Italian shores 300 kilometres (190 miles) away.
Africa daily news, new york understands that the voyages often turn deadly.
‘Over the past 24 hours, the bodies of 17 migrants were found on the coast between the cities of Zawiya and Sorman, by Red Crescent teams,’ a coast guard official told reporters.
The victims drowned after their boat overturned, he said.
