Presidency Reveals Why Buhari Refused To Bring In Foreign Mercenaries To Fight Boko Haram, Others

The federal government once considered bringing in foreign mercenaries to help the nation's military forces in the fight against insurgency, the presidency has revealed.

The special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina made the disclosure when he mentioned that the issue came up for deliberation a few months ago.

The presidential spokesperson however added that President Buhari shut down the idea and opted to put faith in the Nigerian Military and its abilities to fight Boko Haram, kidnappers, bandits, and other insurgents in the land.

Rather than bring in foreigners, the President decided to support the military with all needed resources to win the war, Adesina revealed on Thursday.

This he made known in the latest installment of his weekly opinion article released last night via his Facebook account.

The article titled ‘BUBA MARWA GIVES THEM BLOODY NOSE' highlighted the preference of the President in building and supporting local capacities by appointing qualified persons into positions and supporting them to succeed.

Adesina wrote: “Give it to President Buhari. He has identified some round pegs for round holes in the country, given them the necessary support, and they are doing exploits. Buba Marwa is one of them.”

“I recall a meeting at the Presidency some months ago, where the issue was whether to bring in foreign hands into the battle against insecurity in the country, or not. President Buhari was all for the efficiency and efficacy of local capacities, citing what Buba Marwa was doing at NDLEA as an example.

“He used that to illustrate the fact that Nigeria has all it takes to prosecute its wars at different fronts and levels.”

Meanwhile, troops of the Nigerian Army deployed under Exercise Golden Dawn in the southeast have neutralized a gunman belonging to the Biafran National Guard.

This development was contained in a statement issued by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu.

The Army spokesperson in a statement on Thursday night revealed that the gunmen had launched an attack against the troops at Amaekpu, Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State on Thursday 28 October 2021.

However, the troops resisted the attack and returned gunfire which resulted in the killing of one of the attackers while others escaped with gunshot wounds.