UK Navy Royal Marine Warship Arrives Lagos- British Envoy Gives Reasons

A Royal Navy warship, HMS Trent on Sunday, arrived in Lagos Nigeria as confirmed by the British High Commission.

According to the Commission, this is the second visit of the warship and its mission is to support ally countries and partners in curbing illegal activities including piracy and illicit trafficking. Its first visit to Lagos, Nigeria was in 2021.

The warship which arrived from Gibraltar, has an expert boarding team of UK Royal Marines and a Puma surveillance drone on board.

The British Commission added that the visit would help deliver capacity training and support maritime security in the West African region. HMS Trent’s mission is to support West African allies helping countries to develop capability to fight illegal crimes at sea and ensure they can play an effective role in bringing stability to wider West Africa.

“With around £6 billion of UK trade passing through the region, part of Trent’s tasking is to support stability across the Gulf of Guinea through training to help partner navies take the fight to criminal actors, fostering ties and sharing knowledge, whilst conducting patrols to increase security,” the Commission’s statement read. Also, the Commanding Officer for HMS Trent, Tim Langford, said the Royal Navy has a long partnership record with the Armed Forces Of Nigeria and he looks forward to building on that relationship.

He said, “The Royal Navy has a long history of engagement within the region and an enduring partnership with the Armed Forces of Nigeria. My team are really looking forward to the opportunity to work with their Nigerian counterparts and build on the relationships established when we visited Lagos in 2021.”

Speaking on the development, UK Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter said the deployment demonstrated how a truly Global Britain is stepping up on the world stage to tackle shared international security challenges He added that Nigeria and UK face similar threats.

“Nigeria is an important and valued defence partner for the UK in West Africa. Our two countries face many shared threats and we are keen to work with Nigeria to defeat these and to help improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea,” Baxter noted.