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Navy Dismantles Militant Logistics Network on Cross River Waterways, Recovers Boats and Engines
Navy Dismantles Militant Logistics Network on Cross River Waterways, Recovers Boats and Engines
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News Reporter Tuesday, May 6, 2026
Naval forces have stepped up operations against militant groups and suspected kidnappers along the Cross River waterways, recovering a cache of speedboats and outboard engines in a series of targeted follow-up raids.
The Director of Naval Information, Navy Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, confirmed the developments in a statement made available to journalists on Monday, disclosing that troops operating out of Dayspring Island — where a militant camp had earlier been destroyed and a forward security post established — sustained pressure on known enclaves in the area.
During the operations, troops uncovered ten outboard boat engines hidden in surrounding bushes and inside a structure traced to a suspected militant. All recovered items were seized and secured.
In a separate but related operation, acting on fresh intelligence, naval personnel advanced into a creek near Akpamfi, forcing armed suspects to abandon their positions and flee. The fleeing militants left behind two fibre boats and a 200-horsepower outboard engine, all of which were recovered by troops.
Folorunsho said the focus on boats and engines was deliberate, noting that these assets form the backbone of militant activity along Nigeria’s inland and coastal waterways. Depriving criminal groups of their waterborne mobility, he explained, directly weakens their capacity to carry out attacks, kidnappings and other illegal operations.
He added that the sustained offensive had considerably degraded the fighting strength of the groups, curtailed their freedom of movement and denied them the safe havens from which they previously operated.
The Navy reaffirmed its commitment to continuing the operations until the waterways are fully cleared of criminal elements and made safe for legitimate commerce and transportation.