INSURGENCY: UK TO COMMENCE ARMS SUPPLY TO NIGERIAN MILITARY-Defence Secretay.
The British government yesterday disclosed that it was fully committed to supplying the Nigerian military, the required arms and ammunition to assist in decapitating the armed forcesto end Boko Haram and terrorism in the country.
Britain’s Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon who made the disclosure meeting with Nigeria’s Defence Minister Muhammadu Dan-Ali at the Ministry of Defence in Abuja, said, “We have discussed defence equipment again, how Britain can do more to help, not simply in providing equipment but in assessing Nigeria needs and better matching the equipments with the capabilities that are required to deal with Boko Haram.”
He continued, “In Britain we want to do more to help here, we want to increase military training, to do more to help the Nigerian army deal with Improvised Explosive Devices, to help with battle field medicine, to improve training in air field defence.”
“I also discussed with your minister how we need to tackle this terrorism across the board, to improve coordination between the agencies, not simply to push the terrorists out, but to be able to hold and secure the ground that is liberated,” Fallon further said.
Responding, Nigeria’s defence minister Muhammadu Dan-Ali commended the British government for its long history of military assistance to the Nigerian armed forces, but added that Nigeria requires more.
Dan-Ali said presently about 150 personnel of the British armed forces a have been on and off giving training, direction and reforms to Nigeria’s armed forces.
He added that recently after a request by the Nigerian government, 13 experts were sent by the British government to assist with the menace of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).
“Like he rightly observed we have discussed a lot of issues like the reform of our armed forces, including the equipment platforms that we require for the successful conclusion of the insurgency as soon as possible,” Dan-Ali stated.
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