The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Idi Abbas (Admiralty Medal), undertook an operational tour of the Headquarters Joint Task Force Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), Maiduguri and the Naval Base Lake Chad (NBLC) Baga in Borno State thereby spending the new year day with Armed Forces personnel on the frontlines of the North East counter terrorism operations. On arrival at the Headquarters OPHK, the CNS was received by the Theatre Commander (TC), Major General AE Abubakar who briefed the CNS on the recent gains made by the JTF, the current challenges and future plans. Pertinently, the TC highlighted the contributions of the Land, Maritime and Air Components noting that seamless joint offensives had severely degraded adversary capabilities.
According to an official release made available to the media by Commodore Adams-Aliu, Director of Information. The CNS commended the TC and all the officers and men of OPHK assuring them that the challenges would be addressed expeditiously.
Thereafter the CNS proceeded to Naval Base Lake Chad located in Baga. On arrival, he was received and taken round the Base by the Commander, Commodore Peter Gambo Yilme. The CNS also undertook a boat ride on the Lake Chad which had recently been cleared by the Base to restore navigation, and revive economic activities in the area. Subsequently, the CNS shared a new year meal with the officers and men of NBLC and 196 Amphibious Battalion which are co-located in Baga. Before departing Baga, the CNS thanked the personnel for their sacrifice and service noting that being deployed at the extreme flank of Nigeria’s North-Eastern border was very challenging but necessary to secure the nation’s territorial integrity and also control the waterways.
The presence of the CNS in the North-East Theatre on new year day 2026, was a morale booster to the officers and men deployed in the area. Furthermore, it is in fulfillment of CNS’ vision for the NN which is “to have a mobile, agile and professional naval force dedicated to securing Nigeria’s maritime domain and advance national security objectives in synergy with other security agencies.” The CNS accompanied by the Chief of Operations, Rear Admiral MB Katagum and the Chief of Logistics, Rear Admiral SH Abdullahi stated that the Nigerian Navy remains fully committed to denying the terrorists the use of Lake Chad waterways through sustained and coordinated operations in synergy sister services and other security agencies deployed in the North-East Theatre of operations.
