|
Defence Minster: Ghana Navy ready to defend our coast
line
Audrey Agyiri-Inkoom, Ghanadot
Accra, Nov 30, Ghanadot - The Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen.
Joseph Henry Smith, has assured the general public that, by the
time the country starts the production of oil in commercial
quantities, the Navy will be ready to defend our coast line.
“I want to assure you that, we are very prepared, our vessels
are at sea, 24 hours, we are making efforts to bring in new
vessels and re-mapping the whole of the Coastal lines of Ghana,
350 miles coastal line and I want to assure the Ghanaian public
that by the time we start production we are ready to defend our
coast line.”
The Defence Minister was responding to a question on Peace FM,
on the preparedness of the nation’s navy in the light of rampant
sea piracy and the report that a Nigerian Vessel had been
impounded by Ghana over the weekend after being hijacked by
sailors at sea.
The vessel, christened the “African Prince”, is currently docked
at the Tema port.
“Last week we had a request from the Nigerian Authorities that a
vessel had been hijacked and it was heading towards the Benin –
Togo waters, so we alerted our Navy, though the navy was already
at sea patrolling our territorial waters. When the vessel
entered our territorial waters, it was intercepted by the Navy
and brought to the port in Tema…
“Over the weekend the Nigerian authorities requested from its
Ghanaian counterparts whether the vessel could be released to
them and they decided that, they decided to send two other
vessels to come and escort the detained vessel back to Nigeria,”
he revealed.
Lt Gen Smith revealed, a team of investigators from the Bureau
of National Investigations (BNI), Navy and the National Security
Coordinators office went on board to conduct a thorough search
and begin investigations. He further disclosed that the
investigators had submitted their interim report on the
incident; which will subsequently be handed over to the National
Security Council.
“When a decision is taken, we will take the necessary steps to
arrange with Nigeria’s High Commissioner here (Ghana), to take
over the vessel by handing it over to their authorities in
Nigeria…,” he added.
|
