UK Deploys More Military Personnel Against Boko Haram

Report has it that United Kingdom has deployed 35 military personnel to Nigeria as part of efforts to train Nigerian Armed Forces to combat the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The military personnel were drawn from the Second Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment and they would be providing infantry training to Nigerian soldiers to tackle the extremist group in the northeastern part of Nigeria. Joe Abuku, the Press and Public Relations Affairs Officer to British High Commission gave a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, saying that the number of British personnel that would be deployed on the training tasks in Nigeria was expected to reach 300. The personnel are also expected to provide assistance in countering improvised explosive devices, as well as medical training and advice.

Michael Fallon who is the Defence Secretary earlier announced a step up in training to help Nigerian forces to stamp out the threat posed by Boko Haram. The statement read, “Almost 1,000 Nigerian Army personnel had benefitted from training to prepare them for counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, and the work by 2 RANGLIAN, known as The Poachers, is now well-recognised across the AFN. The UK also supports a Nigerian intelligence and analysis cell focussed on the North-East and based in Abuja, and nearly 30 UK Armed Forces personnel are deployed in Nigeria on an enduring basis in training and advisory roles.”

Meanwhile, The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai has said that the Nigerian Army has made advanced plans to establish two new divisions in Borno State and part of the South-South geopolitical zone. Buratai explained that the new divisions, to be known as the 8th and 6th divisions of the Army, would be based in Borno North and the South-South respectively, adding that the new divisions were designed to boost the operational capacity of the military against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, especially the Lake Chad Basin and other parts of the country. Buratai stated that the 8th Division would soon become operational with the deployment of manpower and logistics but he didn’t disclose the exact location of the 6th Division saying that efforts were still ongoing to establish it in the South-South.