By Juliana Katung
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, has expressed optimistism in winning the war against Boko Haram, saying the military will soon recapture more communities taken over by the Islamist Boko Haram insurgents.
This is because of Nigeria’s renewed effort and joint operations with its counterpart from the neighboring countries.
Minimah said, the Military and its counterpart have recorded a lot of successes in the last few days which is connected to the joint operations between the Nigerian forces and their Cameroon, Chad and Niger counterparts.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of a 5-Day seminar for operational level officers of the Nigerian Army by the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) held at Jaji Military Cantonment, Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
According to him, the ongoing counter terrorists campaign in the North-East coupled with the awakening of Cameroon, Chad and Niger forces has led to the liberation of more communities under siege of Boko Haram terrorists and also boosted successes recorded against the extremist group in the recent time.
He said the seminar would build the capacity participants and impart more Knowledge on the Nigerian Army on how to recover more territories, which would in turn help the army perform better and be more professional in dealing with terrorism.
“It is gratifying to note that, our drive in retraining in conjunction with the valued partnership is beginning to yield greater results.
He however expressed hope that the seminar will further strengthen the long standing partnership between the Nigerian and United Kingdom armies.
Leader of British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT), Brig Gen Jonny Bourne, said the world is currently facing a new wave of security challenges, therefore, the earlier the armies of nations round the world begin to learn from one another, the better.
Gen. Bourne who is the Commander British 7th Infantry Brigade said the seminar would generate valuable ideas to tackle the security threats around the world and Nigeria in particular.
Meanwhile, recently close to 7,000 soldiers from Cameroon and Chad have taken positions on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, in the bid to combat Boko Haram Islamist extremists.
Some sources revealed that the soldiers are finding cross-border operations difficult due to the fact that the insurgents have adopted a new strategies of planting mines on the roads.
According to the sources Chadian and Cameroonian soldiers sang during a joint training session in Fotokol on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria’s Borno state, a Boko Haram stronghold.
It is from Fotokol that Chadian soldiers organised attacks on Nigerian towns seized by the Islamist group and assisted Cameroon in protecting its territory from militants
fighting to create an Islamist caliphate.
According to sources, both Nigerian soldiers and their counterpart are still ready to combat Boko Haram despite the group’s new strategy which bring about the successes recorded.
