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Nigerian Army, a force to reckon with in Africa— Defence Minister
By Modupe Shodeinde
The Defence Minister, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd.), has described the Nigerian Army as one of the best in Africa and a force to be reckoned with.
He stated that the troops have the capacity to win the war against the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast given their military exploits in foreign missions in West Africa and other countries.
The minister said this during a programme on Channels TV, Politics Today, on Thursday.
The Punch newspaper, quoted the minster saying, “In Africa, Nigerian Army should be adjudged one of the best, we have conducted so many operations outside Nigeria. We went to ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group), we did the very best we can. We went to Sierra Leone, we did the very best we can and some other places. We are a force that is reckon with in Africa but because of the nature of the prolongation of this war, people are getting tired.
“They (Boko Haram terrorists) are not concentrated in one particular place, it is an operation that they hit and run, we don’t even know their bases. Now, we know that the best way to fight these people is to get enough intelligence and go out there to fight them and this is what we are doing. Every day, we are getting information and the Nigerian Army and Air Force are running them down.” he said
The minister said the Boko Haram terrorists have been dislodged from Borno state and only launch occasional attacks to attract international publicity and embarrass the Nigerian President.
Magashi said the problem is that the Armed Forces are overstretched and there has been a lack of support from some countries.
However, Magashi expressed optimism that though Nigeria has not been receiving the needed support from some nations, the country is determined to get rid of the Boko Haram sect.
