•Bangladesh laud Nigerian military counter-terrorism efforts
Senator Iroegbu in Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has confirmed that its fighter jets engaged in the on-going counter-insurgency and counter terrorism operations against the Boko Haram Terrorists in the North East, have bombed their meeting point, killing about 300 terrorists in the processes.
This is coming as the Bangladeshi Armed Forces, lauded the success of the Nigerian Military towards overcoming terrorism and insurgency in parts of the country.
The Director of Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, in a statement yesterday, said that the current phase of intensified air operations over Northern Borno paid-off on the night of August 19, 2016 when the NAF jets hit the location.
Famuyiwa said that during NAF the air attack, “killed about 300 BHTs who had gathered to hold a meeting at a location between Malam Fatori and own troops location at Kangarwa”.
His statement confirmed the earlier one issued by the Nigerian Army claiming that several Boko Haram commanders were killed, while a “so-called Abubakar Shekau” was fatally wounded.
Famuyiwa said that prior to this fateful day, NAF had on August 16, 2016, commenced series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions to corroborate human intelligence that key terrorist commanders gather at the said location to hold meeting at night.
He said that the “objective of the on-going operation, as usual, is to degrade the capability of the insurgents, particularly those who have fled to the northern part of Borno”.
The DOPRI also enclosed a declassified footage of the air operation and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) photographs.
In a related development, the Armed Forces of Bangladesh, have lauded the success of the Nigerian Military to overcome insurgency and expressed their willingness to adopt the Nigerian Armed Forces winning strategy to combat insurgency and criminalities in their country.
This was contained in the remarks by the team leader of the members of the Bangladesh National Defence College on Geo-strategic study tour of Nigeria that visited the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
The leader of the delegation, Rear Admiral Anwarul Islam, pointed out that the dramatic way in which the Nigerian Military routed the erstwhile deadly Boko Haram in the last one year was worthy of commendation.
Islam noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces are well known for their contributions to peace support operations worldwide and have contributed tremendously to world and regional peace.
He observed that Bangladesh has a lot to learn from the Nigerian Armed Forces and lauded the CDS for his leadership direction.
Admiral Islam also plauded the Armed Forces for successfully degrading the Boko Haram Terrorists in the North East and tackling other criminalities in Nigeria. He solicited cordial military bilateral relations with the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Responding, the CDS who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans at DHQ Air Vice Marshal Bashir Saidu, assured the team of the Nigerian Armed Forces’ readiness to partner with the Bangladesh Armed Forces and to synergize with other willing nations in the global war against terror.
The team was later briefed on the operational activities of the Multi-National Joint Tasks Forces and Operations Lafiya Dole in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
