Africa’s strongest navy welcomes Portuguese warship for joint Gulf of Guinea military operations

Portugal has deployed a naval frigate to West Africa as it joins Nigeria in a five-day maritime exercise aimed at strengthening security and military cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Portuguese Navy’s NRP Álvares Cabral is participating alongside Nigerian naval forces in Exercise Coastal Grip II, which began in Lagos on Friday.

The exercise is designed to improve interoperability between the two countries’ forces and strengthen their ability to respond to maritime security threats.

The exercise brings together Nigerian naval ships, helicopters, Special Boat Service personnel and the Western Naval Command’s Mission Control Centre, alongside the Portuguese frigate.

The drills include maritime interdiction, air-sea coordination, communications exercises, ship manoeuvres and joint mission planning.

Nigeria’s Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, said the exercise would address threats including sea robbery, oil theft, illegal fishing and trafficking in people, weapons and drugs.

He said such threats increasingly require coordinated responses between countries operating in the region.

The exercise also involves personnel from other Nigerian security agencies, including the Army, Air Force, Police, Customs and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, highlighting the multi-agency approach to maritime security.

Coastal Grip II builds on an earlier exercise conducted with the Spanish Navy under the European Union’s SWAIM project.

For Nigeria, the exercise comes as the country continues efforts to protect its maritime territory and major oil and gas infrastructure while improving security across the wider Gulf of Guinea.

The exercise comes as Nigeria is also taking a leading role in a broader regional maritime security effort. The Combined Maritime Task Force (CMTF) for the Gulf of Guinea was launched on June 1, 2026, as Africa’s first standing regional maritime rapid-reaction force.

Three months into the initiative, Nigeria remains the only member state to have provided assets to the task force, supplying three ships, a helicopter, vehicles, personnel and temporary headquarters facilities in Lagos.

The region remains strategically important for international shipping and West Africa’s oil trade, making cooperation with European naval powers such as Portugal an important component of Nigeria’s maritime security strategy.