On Sunday, the Royal Navy vessel HMS Trent landed in Lagos, Nigeria. Trent is visiting Nigeria for the second time as part of a regional mission to assist friends and partners in combating criminal activities like piracy and illicit trafficking.
According to a statement issued by the British High Commission, the visit will aid in capacity building and marine security in the region.
The commission also noted that the HMS Trent left Gibraltar with a skilled boarding team of UK Royal Marines and a Puma surveillance drone. Its mission, according to a statement released by the commission, is to support West African allies by assisting nations in building their capacity to combat illegal maritime crimes and ensure they can effectively contribute to the stabilisation of the larger West Africa.
The statement reads in part, “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.”
HMS Trent’s Commanding Officer, Commander Tim Langford, 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 is really looking forward to the opportunity to work with their Nigerian counterparts and build on the relationships established when we visited Lagos in 2021.”
The deployment, according to Jonny Baxter, the UK's Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, showed how a genuinely global Britain is taking action in the international arena to address common security concerns. “Nigeria is an important and valued defense 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 said.
Back in July, a similar report surfaced, as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval squadron led by the warship Nanning landed in Nigeria for a rare visit by the Chinese military to Africa's Atlantic coast.
The Chinese ambassador to Nigeria lauded the five-day visit as a watershed moment in bilateral relations, and the Nigerian navy indicated a willingness to collaborate with China, also to address maritime security concerns.