The Nigerian Navy has taken delivery of a 46 metre long patrol boat donated by the People’s Republic of China.
The vessel was handed over in a formal ceremony at NNS Beechcroft in Lagos on 28 October, the Nigerian Navy said.
China’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jian Chun, who spoke at the joint handover ceremony, said the delivery was part of efforts to strengthen ties between China and Nigeria, and the boat would help the Nigerian Navy combat maritime crimes and ensure safety in the Gulf of Guinea.
“With the support and donation of equipment and platforms from strategic partners like the People’s Republic of China, capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will be further improved,” said Defence Minister Bashir Magashi.
Nigeria and China have enjoyed close defence ties for a number of years, including on the naval side. Between 2015 and 2016, the China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company (CSOC) delivered two 95 metre long P18N offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) to Nigeria as the NNS Centenary and NNS Unity.
In February 2015, the Nigerian Navy commissioned a 38 metre long Type 062 patrol craft, the NNS Sagbama, which was donated by the Chinese government.
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, said, “I am happy to state that these vessels and others in the fleet have enhanced Nigerian Navy’s maritime security operations efforts, which significantly reduced piracy within Nigeria’s maritime domain as well as the Gulf of Guinea and eventually culminated in delisting Nigeria from the list of Piracy Prone countries this year by the International Maritime Bureau.”
The Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral YB Wambai, earlier stated that, “Nigeria/China relationship has come a very long way. As we all recall, two of our ships, NNS Centenary and NNS Unity, were constructed in China and have been in the service of the Nigerian Navy and been doing very well in the fight against piracy within the Gulf of Guinea.”
In addition to naval cooperation, the Nigerian Air Force is acquiring three Wing Loong II unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from China, which has previously supplied a batch of two Wing Loong II, four CH-4 and two CH-3 aircraft to enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) as well as strike capabilities of the Nigerian Air Force. (Nearly a decade ago an initial five CH-3 UAVs were delivered, and armed with AR-1 anti-tank missiles for use against terrorists.) Recently, Nigeria sent ten of its F-7Ni Airguard fighter jets to China for heavy maintenance, and these returned this year.
The Nigerian Army is an increasingly large user of Chinese military hardware, notably from 2014 operating Poly Technologies’ CS/VP3 mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP), making Nigeria the type’s second known export customer after Uganda. It appears over 100 more were delivered last year along with Type 89 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) from Norinco and Mengshi armoured vehicles from DongFeng.
Other recent acquisitions from China include VT-4 main battle tanks, ST-1 8×8 tank destroyers and SH-5 105 mm self-propelled howitzers. The first batch of hardware was delivered from Norinco in April 2020 and is believed to have been order under a $152 million 2019 contract.
