Ibas stated this on Wednesday while speaking to journalists after his lecture on “Nigerian Navy: Challenges and Future Perspectives”, at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja.
He said that no serious country would tolerate the recent attacks, which he noted, had gone beyond mere vandalism to outright economic sabotage.
He said: “Just recently we got a report from the oil producing trade section and even commendation from Total Nigeria Limited stating that in the last year that just passed the Nigerian Navy was commended for reducing such incidences at sea.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“The incident that just happened recently a few days back is rather unfortunate and cannot be taken by any serious nation and the Nigerian Navy is not going to take it lightly as well.
“We made it clear that the attack goes beyond the purpose of mere vandalism for the purpose of getting gains; it is absolute sabotage and can even be termed terrorism.
“If the guy was doing that to get benefit from the destruction then one will say its vandalism, but what we have there is complete sabotage.”
The Naval chief expressed belief that “a special court or tribunal mandated to address all the outstanding cases with respect to arrests made by the Navy, and early dispensation of justice will enable the morale of officers and men to be high”.
He said that such a response would help reduce the incidences of illegalities on the maritime area.
Ibas noted that the Nigerian Navy would in the next couple of months, be able to address the immediate challenges within the maritime domain.
