KEY POINTS
- The Nigerian Navy has seized 10 outboard engines, two fibre boats and a 200-horsepower engine in operations against militants in Cross River.
- Troops conducted the operation at Dayspring Island and a creek near Akpamfi, forcing militants to flee.
- Navy spokesman Abiodun Folorunsho said the offensive aims to dismantle the militants’ logistics network on the waterways.
The Nigerian Navy has tightened its grip on militants and kidnappers operating in Cross River, seizing 10 outboard engines, two fiber boats and a 200-horsepower engine during follow-up operations in the Calabar waterways. Notably, the hauls came from two coordinated sweeps that targeted hideouts already on the troops’ radar.
Navy Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, the director of naval information, broke the news in a statement to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday. He said the operations underscored a sustained offensive that aims to degrade the militants’ operational capability.
Dayspring Island sweep
Specifically, troops conducted the first operation at Dayspring Island, where naval personnel had earlier destroyed a militant hideout and established a forward security outpost. The latest push kept pressure on identified enclaves and yielded fresh evidence of militant activity.
Notably, the troops uncovered 10 outboard boat engines hidden in nearby bushes and inside a structure linked to a suspected militant. The personnel seized and secured every item recovered. The cache adds to a growing list of confiscated equipment from past sweeps. “All items were seized and secured by the troops,” Folorunsho said.
A second strike near Akpamfi
In a related operation built on fresh intelligence, troops advanced into a creek near Akpamfi. Furthermore, the move forced the militants to flee in a hurry, abandoning equipment and gear that pointed to a hasty retreat.
Specifically, the fleeing suspects abandoned two fiber boats and a 200-horsepower outboard engine, which the troops subsequently recovered. The retreat exposed how stretched the militant network has become along the waterways.
Folorunsho said the operations targeted the logistics network of militant groups, with boats and engines treated as critical assets to their activities along the waterways. Take those out, the thinking goes, and the militants lose mobility and reach. The Navy is betting that pressure on logistics is more sustainable than chasing individual suspects.
Additionally, the navy spokesman said the sustained offensive has significantly degraded the operational capability of the militants. The push has restricted their movement and also denied them safe havens that previously sheltered weapons, fuel and personnel.
Sustained pressure ahead
Meanwhile, the Navy reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining the operations until they flush out criminal elements and secure the waterways for legitimate activities. The signal lands at a moment when riverine insecurity is once again rising up the national agenda.
Crucially, the latest seizures fit a wider pattern of riverine operations the Navy has stepped up across the South-South. Indeed, Cross River, with its dense network of creeks and proximity to maritime borders, has long offered safe ground for traffickers, kidnappers and militants. The state has been a long-running pain point for security planners.
With Dayspring Island now home to a forward outpost and Akpamfi creek under tighter watch, the Navy’s footprint along Cross River’s waterways is the deepest it has been in years. Whether the latest haul translates into fewer kidnappings and ambushes will be the test that residents and traders along the creek lines watch most closely. The trend, at least for now, is moving in their direction.
