Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said Tongeji Island belongs to Nigeria and that the Republic of Benin is not contesting the ownership of the oil-rich enclave.
Abiodun made the clarification when he received the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Mustapha Bala Hassan, who paid him a courtesy call in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
According to the governor, the island and its people have been part and parcel of Ogun State and have no connection with any other country.
“Tongeji Island is an area that has been under our radar. Sadly, I have not been able to visit there. I have planned to visit several times. The former Chief of Naval Staff at a point in time wanted us to go with the former Flag Officer Commanding, but something happened that day, and we could not go,” he said.
Abiodun said he had raised the matter with the President of Benin Republic on two occasions that Tongeji Island belonged to Nigeria and he never disputed, contrary to speculations around.
“I agree that we mark that area with our presence by providing services for the people. The jetty that you mentioned, I will tell our Ministry of Works to go there and take a look so we can put a cost implication to that. You mentioned the issues of power, water supply, and Primary Healthcare Centre. Those ones, we can immediately swing into action when we go there”.
“If we are claiming that it is our territory, they must see us providing some services for our people and this has been brought to the fore a few times that our people there are complaining that we are not looking after them. We will immediately begin to provide them with those services,” the governor assured.
Abiodun pointed out that Ogun Waterside, due to its proximity to Delta, had security issues in the past when people from the Niger Delta made incursions into the area and carried out criminal activities, noting that it was imperative to have naval presence in the area.
He said his administration’s efforts at providing security to the people living in the area led to the procurement of gun boats for the police, maintaining that the presence of men of the Nigeria Navy would be highly welcome as towns in the area could only be accessible by water.
Speaking earlier, Rear Admiral Mustapha Hassan, who is the 44th Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, lauded the State for its conducive business environment, which has made it the industrial hub of the nation and emphasised the need for the state to work towards becoming an oil producing State through the Tongeji Island.
He said the force had spread its operations to Tongeji to safeguard not only the lives of Nigerians living on the Island, but to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and all its assets, appealing to the governor to provide jetties for seamless operations there.
Hassan also pleaded with the state government to provide the inhabitants of the Island with a health facility, water supply and electricity to make them have a sense of belonging, suggesting also that the government could turn the Island to a tourism centre because of its potential.
