Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has urged the 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army to extend Exercise Still Water II to cover the maritime domain to ensure peace in the coastal waters.
Emmanuel gave the advice while flagging off the exercise at the Mbiokporo Military Cantonment near Uyo, on Tuesday.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Exercise Still Water II is an inter-unit and inter-agency security operation expected to run till Dec. 22.The Governor represented by his Deputy, Mr Moses Ekpo, said extending the exercise to maritime domain would flush out sea pirates and criminals in the waterways.He said this was important, so as to allow fishermen carry out their businesses unmolested.Emmanuel also commended the synergy existing between the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, saying that it had ensured peace in the state.“We commend the 2 Brigade for what they have been doing to maintain peace and order in the State; from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate your work.“I urge you to extend the exercise to maritime area for more peace in our waterways, as a state government, we will continue to support the Army,” Emmanuel said.
The governor also urged the army to continue to promote good military-civil relation, to ease their work.Earlier, the Brigade Commander, Brig.-Gen. Abubakar Wase, said Exercise Still Water was a brigade level field training for units and sub units in combating prevailing and emerging security threats.He said it would serve as precursor to real time operations to checkmate the multifarious security challenges in the state.According to him, the exercise would tackle security challenges such as militancy, separatist agitations, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering, cultism and communal clashes.
He said that participants were drawn from units under the Command, sister services and other security agencies.“The coming together of security agencies for this Exercise will no doubt enhance synergy and inter-agency cooperation in joint environment.“This is hinged upon the desire of the General Officer Commanding 6 Division consistent push for security agencies to jointly tackle the emerging security threats,” Wase said.He added that during the exercise, the Brigade would render free medical outreach to some communities in the state.The commander enjoined the general public to call 09070077175 or 08163256562 in case of any security breach. (NAN)(
