In furtherance of ongoing efforts to strengthen maritime security and suppress smuggling activities within the Badagry–Seme–Porto Novo waterways and adjoining land corridors, the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base (FOB) Badagry has maintained a high tempo of operations. These sustained maritime security activities have resulted in the interception of significant quantities of contraband, including narcotics and foreign parboiled rice, within its designated Area of Operations (AOO).
Specifically, in a series of distinct operations conducted between 26 April and 14 May 2025, the Base’s Quick Response Team (QRT) successfully effected the following seizures:
a. A total of ninety-seven (97) bags, each weighing 50 kilograms, of foreign parboiled rice, intercepted within the Base’s AOO on Saturday, 26 April 2025.
b. One hundred and ninety-one (191) wraps of products suspected to be Cannabis Sativa, with an estimated weight of 114.6 kilograms, seized during three separate operations conducted around the Packo and Bedrome–Ashipa areas between 30 April and 14 May 2025.
c. Approximately three hundred and seven (307) kegs of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), amounting to roughly 7,675 litres, seized in four distinct operations at Simtop Jetty, Tosuvi, Ashikpa, and Panshi between 23 April and 3 May 2025.
In accordance with extant legal frameworks and the Nigerian Navy’s Standard Operating Procedures, the aforementioned ninety-seven (97) bags of foreign parboiled rice were formally handed over to the Nigeria Customs Service, Western Marine Command. Likewise, the one hundred and ninety-one (191) wraps of suspected Cannabis Sativa were handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Seme Special Area Command, on Tuesday, 20 May 2025, for further investigation and requisite legal action. Furthermore, the impounded PMS was duly destroyed to prevent its illicit distribution within the AOO.
These achievements are a testament to FOB Badagry’s unflinching commitment to the strategic directives of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, as articulated in the CNS Strategic Directive 06–2023. This directive underscores the imperative of safeguarding Nigeria’s maritime environment in the interest of national security and economic advancement.
FOB Badagry remains resolute in its mission to eradicate smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and other maritime-related crimes. The Base continues to foster robust inter-agency collaboration and nurture trust with host communities, with a view to ensuring sustainable maritime security throughout the region.