Nigeria does not need mercenaries to defeat terrorists

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, has insisted that Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari has no need to engage foreign mercenaries to defeat terrorism in the country.

Monguno said this during a briefing on Thursday, adding that the Buhari-led administration believes the country is well equipped to deal with Boko Haram’s insurgency and other security challenges on its own without seeking help as many have continued to advocate.

The NSA cited ‘national pride and other non-specific issues’ as reasons why Buhari would not sanction the use of mercenaries to fight insurgency as the “President is more interested in how to utilise the nation’s resources to win the counter-terrorism war.”

What we’re looking at here is that we have the resources; it’s just misapplication and under-utilisation that has affected our abilities to deal with these people,” Monguno said.

He added that the government remains committed to supporting troops with equipment and intelligence to completely eradicate the terrorists.

Gov Sule says terrorists regrouping in Nasarawa, runs to Buhari for help

The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to come to the rescue of Nasarawa State from terrorist attacks.

Sule met with Buhari on Friday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja over the insecurity in his state.

After the meeting which they held behind closed doors, Sule told State House correspondents his state had been facing attacks by a group of terrorists that had earlier been dislodged.

He said the dislodged insurgents recently regrouped at the Nasarawa/Benue border and had continued to launch attacks on Nasarawa residents from there.

According to the governor, some of the apprehended terrorists, revealed that they belong to Boko Haram group, Darussalam, who were earlier dislodged from Niger State.

Governor Sule said having spoken to President Buhari about the situation, he had a firm belief urgent action would be taken against the terrorists.