Nigerian Navy: Naval Command Bases in Nigeria

In this post, Nigerian Search Guide will discuss about the various Naval Command Bases in Nigeria, which are also known as the Nigerian Navy Command Centres.

Every one of these naval military bases in the country take orders from their principal officer who is the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and as we proceed, we shall discuss about the various navy command centres in details and their locations in the country.

FULL LIST OF NAVAL COMMAND CENTRES IN NIGERIA TODAY AND THEIR LOCATIONS 

This is the full list of the naval command bases in Nigeria. These naval command centres are integral to the various functions of the Nigerian Navy. The command structure of the Nigerian Navy (NN) comprises of 9 branches at the Naval headquarters and 5 commands of which 3 are operational military commands and 2 are training and logistics commands. These are the main command bases through which the Nigerian Navy operates and without them, it will not be out of place to say that there will not be any Naval presence and activity in the country.

All the command bases listed in this article are directly under the Nigerian Navy Headquarters, through which full command of the NN is exercised. We will now look at every single naval command centre in the country in detail.

THE NAVAL HEADQUARTERS (NHQ)

The headquarters of the Nigerian Navy is the centre of the day to day running of this arm or branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is also the policy-making centre of the Navy in the country.

At its helm is the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) who is the principal military officer of the Navy in Nigeria. The CNS exercises full military command of the Nigerian Navy and he reports directly to the Chief of Defence Staff, who reports to the Minister of Defence and the Defence Minister ultimately reports to the President, who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The Chief of Naval Staff has 7 staff branches in addition to the Office of the Navy Secretary. The staff branches include: Policy and Plans, Training and Operations, Administration, Naval Engineering, Logistics, Accounts and Budget, and Safety and Standards. All these branches are headed by Principal Staff Officers of the rank of Rear Admiral.

The Naval Headquarters (NHQ) directly heads 3 operational commands in the country as earlier stated and they are: the Western Naval Command, the Eastern Naval Command, and the Central Naval Command. Other command bases headed by the Nigerian Navy headquarters are: one training command, one logistics command and multiple autonomous units in the country. These several autonomous units of the Nigerian Navy are: Naval Ordnance Depot (NOD), Naval Doctrine and Assessment Centre (NDAC) and Navy Holdings Limited (NHL). The autonomous units and support facilities enable the NN to maintain the fleet and personnel for sustained operations.

THE WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND (WNC) 

The headquarters of the Western Naval Command is located at Apapa in Lagos State. It spans the sea and coastal areas from the Nigeria/Benin border at Longitude 002 degrees 49’ East to Longitude 006 degrees East in Delta State, from the Nigerian coastline to the limit of the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The units under the jurisdiction of the Western Naval Command of the NN in the country include:

• Headquarters Western Naval Command
• Western Fleet at Apapa
• NNS BEECROFT, an operations base at Apapa
• Naval Air Base, Ojo, Lagos
• Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Ojo, Lagos
• Fleet Support Group (West) at Apapa
• NNS WEY, a maintenance unit at Navy Town, Ojo
• Forward Operating Bases (FOB) IGBOKODA and BADAGRY in Ondo and Lagos States respectively
• Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Abeokuta
• Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Ojo
• Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Ogbomoso.

THE EASTERN NAVAL COMMAND (ENC) 

The Eastern Naval Command is the second operations command of the Nigerian Navy with its headquarters situated in Calabar, the capital territory of Cross River State. The ENC spans the entire sea area from Longitude 006 degrees East in Delta State to the Nigeria/Cameroon border at Longitude 008 degrees 30’ East, and from the Nigerian coastline to the limit of the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The Command has the following units under its jurisdiction:

• NNS VICTORY, an operations base at Calabar.
• NNS PATHFINDER, an operations base at Port Harcourt.
• NNS JUBILEE, an operations base at Ikot Abasi.
• Eastern Fleet at Calabar.
• Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) BONNY, FORMOSO and IBAKA in Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom States respectively.
• Fleet Support Group (East) at Calabar.
• Navy Hospitals at Calabar and Port Harcourt.
• Nigerian Navy Secondary Schools at Calabar and Port Harcourt.

CENTRAL NAVAL COMMAND (CNC)

The Central Naval Command (CNC) is the third operations command of the NN, established in February 2012 with its headquarters at Brass, Bayelsa State. Being a new command without any offices or structures on ground in Brass, a command’s temporary headquarters commenced operations as a HQ (Annex) CNC at Yenagoa in March 2012 with the first wave of officers and ratings. The Command’s Area of Responsibility (AOR) extends from the area before River Benin entrance at Longitude 005 00′ East to River Santa Barbara entrance at Longitude 006 30′ East covering a coastal distance of about 156nm.

The coastal states covered by the Command are Bayelsa and Delta states, while the inland states in the Area Of Responsibility include Edo, Kogi and Anambra States. Based on the CNC established AOR, all the existing naval bases and establishments located in the states within the AOR became part of the Central Naval Command.

The benefits of establishing the CNC include but not limited to the following:

• Enhancement of more robust employment and deployment of vessels, personnel and material to effectively police and protect the numerous rigs, platforms, oil installations, creeks and adjoining rivers in the AOR of CNC.
• Facilitation of the integration and employment of land, maritime, air and special operations forces to gain and maintain control of the creeks, inland water ways, coastal and the high seas in the AOR of CNC.
• Enhancement of NN capability at detecting, intercepting and interdicting of hostile actions or acts that tends to undermine security and legitimate economic activities in the AOR of CNC.
• Increment in aid to civil authority through IS operations, humanitarian relief, Search and Rescue (SAR) amongst others in the AOR of CNC.
• Enhancement of confidence among citizens of the area in government’s efforts at creating a secured environment in the AOR of CNC.
• Enhancement of the efforts at elimination of militancy, illegal bunkering, attacks on oil facilities and other illegal activities in the AOR of CNC.

The Command has the following units under its jurisdiction:

• NNS DELTA, an operations base in Warri, Delta State
• Naval Air Station, Effurun-Warri, Delta State
• Navy Hospital, Warri, Delta State
• Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) ESCRAVOS and FORMOSO in Delta and Bayelsa States respectively
• NNS LUGARD, an inland operations base on the River Niger at Lokoja, Kogi State.
• Nigerian Navy Secondary School Okura-Olafia, Kogi State

NAVAL TRAINING COMMAND (NAVTRAC)

The Naval Training Command is located at Apapa in Lagos State. Its main functions are to coordinate and harmonize training doctrines and standards for all local training in the Nigerian Navy, as evolved by the National Headquarters. The Command is headed by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) NAVTRAC, who is assisted by 9 Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), which are: the CSO, the Command Technical Training Officer (CTTO), Command Logistic Training Officer (CLTO) and Command Medical Training Officer (CMTO).

Others are the Command Academic Training Officer (CATO), CABO, CAO, CINTO and CPM.

The units under NAVTRAC are:

• Sea Training Unit at Victoria Island, Lagos: It is responsible for Basic Operations Sea Training, Safety Operations Sea Training, and Consolidated Operations Sea Training of all NN ships when assigned. It also conducts harbour and ship acceptance trials of vessels after major refits.
• NNS QUORRA at Apapa: which provides various professional courses for officers and ratings.
• Nigerian Navy Engineering College (NNEC) Sapele: which provides technical training for all NN technical personnel.
• The Nigerian Navy Finance and Logistic School (NNFLS) at Owerrinta.
• Nigerian Naval College ONURA and the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School (NNBTS): which are co-located at Onne, Port Harcourt. The two establishments conduct basic training for officers and ratings respectively.
• Other professional schools, which include the Medical Staff Training School at Offa in Kwara State and the NN School of Music Otta in Ogun State, and the Hydrographic School in Port Harcourt, the Naval Provost and Regulating School in Benue State, the Nigerian Navy Intelligence School, and the Physical Training School, both at Apapa, Lagos.

LOGISTICS COMMAND

The Logistics Command is headed by a Flag Officer Commanding of the rank of a Rear Admiral and its headquarters is located in Oghara, Delta State. The FOC is directly responsible to the Chief of the Naval Staff on the implementation of logistics policies. The Command has 4 Depots located in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Sapele and Calabar. The Depots handle material and POL supply to the Fleet and Bases.

There are 3 Fleet Support Groups (FSGs) namely; FSG (West), FSG (East) and FSG Central in Lagos, Calabar and Warri respectively. There is also a Motor Vehicle Maintenance Group and a Helicopter Support Group (HSG) both located in Lagos. Additionally, plans are on the way to establish a Work Services Groups (WSG) and an Underway Replenishment Group (URG) in the future.

THE AUTONOMOUS UNITS

The autonomous units are those units which require prudent management and high-level control that need not be duplicated or represented at the lower hierarchy. These units help to maintain the fleet and personnel of the Nigerian Navy and it reports directly to the Chief of Naval Staff. The autonomous units consist of Naval Ordinance Depot (NOD), Naval Doctrine and Assessment Centre (NDAC) and Navy Holdings Limited (NHL) and there are 9 subsidiaries of the NHL which includes:

• Naval Dockyard Limited (NDL)
• Naval Shipyard Limited (NSYL)
• Naval Building & Construction Company Limited (NBCCL)
• Navy Hotels & Suites Limited (NHSL)
• Navy Micro Finance Bank Limited (NMFBL)
• Navy Maritime Services Limited (NMSL)
• Naval Exchange (NAVEX)
• Naval Engineering Services Limited (NESL)
• Navy Clearing and Forwarding Services Limited (NCFSL).