By Lukman Amusa
The federal government and the Peoples Republic of China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will strengthen the Nigerian Armed Forces’ counter insurgency measures against Boko Haram terrorists and other insurgent groups. The minister of defence, Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali, and the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Ziyou Pingjian, signed the MOU on behalf of their countries. A statement by the public relations officer to the defence ministry, Col Tukur Gusau, said the signing of the MOU was a follow-up to the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to China in September 2018 where discussions on infrastructure financing for strategic projects and grants to the Armed Forces were held with the Chinese President, Mr Xi Jinping. The premier reports that following the recent resurgence of Boko Haram in the North East, the federal government has move to adopt fresh strategies to rout the terrorists. Parts of these efforts are the collaboration between Lake Chad Basin countries to deny the terrorists freedom of operation and bring them to their knees. As part of the success of these efforts, the Armed Forces have received fighter planes and other military hardware needed to prosecute the war, while others are being expected. It would be recalled that the Army recently announced plans to adopt high tech uniforms and gadgets to ensure troops’ safety in the battlefield. As troops kill ISWA Terrorists in Baga The Nigerian military yesterday said it had killed scores of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in Baga, Borno State. The director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen Sani Usman, said troops of the newly formed Nigerian Army Special Forces Command (NASFC), Operation Lafiya Dole, working in collaboration with Navy and Air Forces, killed the terrorists that attacked troops’ location at Baga in Borno State, during clearance operations. According to him, the Special Forces commenced clearance operations on December 28, during which they cleared Zare, Gudumbali, Kukawa and Cross Kauwa without any resistance from suspected terrorists. However, at Cross Kauwa, ISWAP terrorists made a costly mistake of confronting the troops. Usman noted that the troops exploited the situation to instantly and decisively ‘neutralize’ the insurgents and capture some equipment. He, however, lamented that, in the process, the Special Forces lost one officer and a soldier, while five other soldiers sustained injuries. “The remains of the two fallen heroes and the wounded have since been evacuated,” he said, adding that the injured soldiers are in stable condition and receiving medical attention. Usman also revealed that some of the terrorists attempted to infiltrate troops’ camp at Monguno and that the troops killed many of them and recovered arms and ammunition. He further stated that troops linked up with other forces in Baga where they cleared the Naval Base and the surrounding areas, adding that the troops are now consolidating and clearing vestiges of the terrorists within the northern Borno State axis with special emphasis on the Lake Chad region. “The Special Forces attained these great strides in close operational synergy with Air Task Force of the Nigerian Air Force who gave Intelligence and close air support by bombarding the ISWAP terrorists,” he said, even as he noted the gallant efforts of Navy Special Forces in the operations.
