The British Secretary of State for
Defence, Mr. Michael Fallon, has said his country will deploy additional
military advisers and trainers to Nigeria to help in the fight against Boko
Haram insurgency.
According to him, the military
personnel, who will be in Nigeria next year, will be offering training to
improve the Nigerian Army’s resilience to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
left behind by Boko Haram.
“Britain and Nigeria are both
democracies; we are free peoples, free to choose our governments.
“These terrorists – ISIS, Boko Haram
– they are opposed to us, our ways of life and they need to be defeated.
“So, we have been discussing today
what more Britain can do; can we step up our military effort with more
training, more help in dealing with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and
with dealing with medical evacuation and airfield defence.
“And what more can be done to
improve the intelligence Nigeria needs to deal with terrorism.
“Well, this year, for example, we
have had some 130 military personnel here helping to train the Nigerian Army.
“Next year, I want to more than
double that to more than 300 personnel are coming to offer training and
particularly to improve the Army’s resilience to IEDs, which obviously have
been left behind by Boko Haram when they were being moved out of the villages
they captured.’’
He stated that British government
would want to do more to help stabilize those areas liberated by the soldiers.
According to Fallon, the British
government will not only be assisting in the provision of security and
rehabilitation of the affected areas but will ensure economic development of
the areas.
“The President and I are aware both
have to do with this kind of terrorism facing our countries.
“So, he has welcomed our offer of
support to help to clear the terrorists out of the North East of Nigeria.
“And we are going to be working
together on a wider issues of stabilization and economic development of these
areas, providing long-term security.’’
Culled from Vanguard
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