A Royal Navy warship, HMS Trent has arrived in Lagos, Nigeria.
The arrival of the warship on Sunday was confirmed by the British High Commission.
This is the second visit of the warship to the country, the commission added.
The mission of the visit of the warship, it disclosed, was 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 arrived from Gibraltar. It has onboard, an expert boarding team of UK Royal Marines and a Puma surveillance drone.
According to the British Commission, 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 the capability to fight 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.
Speaking on the arrival of the warship to the country, 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 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.”
On his part, 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 the UK face similar threats.
“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 noted.\
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