To help address increasingly complex security challenges, the Nigerian Navy has begun training to support security forces involved in land operations, including those that confront Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province.
During Exercise Wash Down in November 2025, Rear Adm. Victor Choji, commandant of the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School in Onne, Rivers State, described the country’s security landscape as volatile and ambiguous.
“We find ourselves in a situation where our training strategies must reflect these realities,” Choji said in a report by Nigeria’s Ugama TV, an online television news channel. “Therefore, the Nigerian Navy has added a new layer to its curriculum that is mainly dedicated to land operations. This recognizes that our trainees will be deployed to various parts of the country, including nonmaritime areas.”
During Exercise Wash Down, naval personnel learned land combat skills, and Choji was pleased with their progress.
“We witnessed when the trainees were admitted into the facility as raw civilians, but now they have learned a lot in becoming personnel,” Choji said.
Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Emekah, the general officer commanding 6 Division, Nigerian Army Port Harcourt, urged Nigerians to regard security as a collective responsibility as terrorists, insurgents and other criminals target civilians and military and security forces.
“Security belongs to everyone, and so every individual has a role to play in securing the country,” Emekah said in the Ugama TV report. “Citizens must support the military and security agencies because it is a fight for everybody, not just for the armed forces alone.”
Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, chief of naval staff, in June had underlined the Navy’s resolve to evolve beyond its traditional maritime domain when the logos of two new specialized commands, Special Operations Command and the Nigerian Navy Marines, were unveiled during a celebration of the Navy’s 69th anniversary in Lagos.
“The Navy’s total spectrum maritime strategy reflects its growing remit — one that spans from open waters to littoral zones and even land-based operations,” Ogalla said in a report by the Nigerian newspaper The Nation.
Rear Adm. Olusegun Soyemi, flag officer commanding, Special Operations Command, pledged in November the Navy’s continued support of Operation Hadin Kai’s goal to eliminate Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region and throughout northeastern Nigeria. Nigerian Army Maj. Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar leads Hadin Kai.
“The Nigerian Navy Special Operations will continue to support the overall national security objectives through coordinated command and control mechanisms, particularly under the Naval Base Lake Chad,” Soyemi said during a two-day operational assessment at the operation’s headquarters in Maiduguri, according to Nigeria’s Daily Champion newspaper.
Soyemi’s visit was intended to improve synergy among the Nigerian Armed Forces and strengthen joint operations. It also allowed Soyemi to assess his forces’ operational readiness, identify challenges and address issues requiring the Navy’s intervention.
During Soyemi’s visit, Abubakar thanked the Navy for its support of Operation Hadin Kai, noting that the maritime component had significantly enhanced operations and overall effectiveness.
“The future of the battle space depends on our domination of the entire battlespace,” Abubakar said in the Daily Champion report. “We must do everything possible to secure them, not just for security reasons but also for their economic value.”
On October 23, Hadin Kai forces killed more than 50 terrorists and wounded more than 70 when insurgents launched multiple early-morning attacks on military bases across Kobe and Yobe states, Nigeria’s Daily Post newspaper reported. Troops also recovered 38 AK-47 rifles, seven machine guns, hand grenades, thousands of rounds of ammunition and other items.
