The federal government has
deployed drones in the fight against insurgency in the Northeast part of
Nigeria.
The deployment followed the
recent killing of some Nigerian soldiers fighting the insurgency in the region.
The soldiers were ambushed by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
The Nigerian delegation
made the revelation in its Country report presented to the ECOWAS Parliament in
Abuja on Friday.
The report presented by
Sani Rano, also contained losses to the country from the incessant
farmers/herders clashes.
He said that hundreds of
thousands of Nigerians had been devastated by the clashes with many displaced.
The deployment of the
drones followed an attack on the Nigerian forces in Borno by the insurgent
group, an attack which led to the killing of no fewer than 44 soldiers, the
report stated.
The delegation, in their
report, informed the parliament that the insurgent group killed 44 soldiers in
three military bases in Borno State: Metele, Gajiram and Mainok.
The report said that the
country in reaction to the attack had deployed the drones to constantly survey
the area, even as it had set up a multi-national joint task force to curb the
menace.
“It is worth mentioning
that Nigeria has constituted the Multi-National Joint Taskforce (MNTF) made up
of Chad, Benin, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria, in fighting Boko Haram.
“It is a multinational
formation comprising of equipped units, mostly the military aimed at containing
the ravages of terrorism and armed insurgency.
“Presently, drones are
patrolling Nigeria’s borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon as instruments for
intelligence collection.
“The Nigerian government is
working closely with the Cameroonian government with the aim of negotiating
efforts in enabling more Cameroon Boko Haram members to surrender,” the report
said.
The report, however, stated
that before the recent attacks on military bases, the Nigerian troops had made
good progress in tackling insurgency and reopening towns previously seized by
Boko Haram.
It said that Nigeria had
gone into partnerships with other countries including the U.S. and UK, France,
Germany, ECOWAS, AU and the UN which had led to the purchase of weapons
including 12 Super Tucano Aircraft.
On the herders/farmers
clashes, Mr Rano stated that no fewer than 1,300 persons were killed in
Nigeria.
The number according to the
report was six times more than the number of persons that had been killed by
Boko Haram as at the time of the report.
He said that apart from the
loss of lives, Nigeria as a country was also losing billions of Naira on the
importation of food which would have been produced locally if there were no
crisis.
“An independent report from
the international crisis group cited 1,300 deaths in the region, due to the
conflicts between herders and farmers.
“The ongoing conflict
between farmers and cattle herders is costing Nigeria at least $16 billion in
potential revenues annually,” he said.
Mr Rano explained that
clashes were due to accusations made by the farmers against herdsmen of failing
to control their cattle and allowing them to damage their crops.
He said the herdsmen also
accused the farmers of stealing and slaughtering their cattle, adding that the
clashes that ensued led to the killing of many, including innocent bystanders.
The report noted that the
Nigerian government had, however, taken steps to address the crisis and the
senseless killings.
The Nigerian army, as well
as the police, were said to have deployed intelligent and surveillance to avert
any re-occurrence especially with the coming of the dry seasons when the
herders would need to search for fresh pasture. (NAN)
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