By Praise Chinecherem
Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla has expressed worry over erosion menace threating facilities of the Onitsha outpost, in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State particularly the Unit’s shoreline and the fencing.
He regretted that the erosion, ocasioned by flooding had become an perennial experience, calling on government, relevant agencies and stakeholders to assist them in rescuing the unit from being completely submerged.
Ogalla spoke in Onitsha after inspection of facilities at the Outpost during his visit as part of his tour of units and establishments of the Nigerian Navy following his assumption of office.
He said the tour of units and establishments has become imperative for accessment of the prevailing situation with a view to finding strategies to improving on their operations.
He said, “The purpose of this visit is first of all, to see our units and establishment as they are, so we access the situation on ground to find strategies on how to improve on our operations.
“We have seen some difficult challenges and the environment Naval Outpost Onitsha is operating. We can also see the effect of erosion on our shoreline, as well as the fence that has collapsed.
“This particular unit gets flooded to the foundation, we have noted what the challenges and seek collaboration of relevant agencies and stakeholders to assist us in rescuing this particular unit from being completely submerged by erosion.
“The base has been able to contribute effectively to the policing duties which is one of their roles here, we are happy that the challenges they have did not significantly impact negatively on their effectiveness.
“We have taken note of some of the things to do so that we can improve particularly in the area of anti oil theft auto bunkering which are major critical areas we are assessing towards improving on our operations.”
