Nigeria does not need mercenaries to defeat terrorists —NSA

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, has insisted that Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari has no need to engage foreign mercenaries to defeat terrorism in the country.

Monguno said this during a briefing on Thursday, adding that the Buhari-led administration believes the country is well equipped to deal with Boko Haram’s insurgency and other security challenges on its own without seeking help as many have continued to advocate.

The NSA cited ‘national pride and other non-specific issues’ as reasons why Buhari would not sanction the use of mercenaries to fight insurgency as the “President is more interested in how to utilise the nation’s resources to win the counter-terrorism war.”

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt not too weak to eliminate terrorists, criminals – NSA

“What we’re looking at here is that we have the resources; it’s just misapplication and under-utilisation that has affected our abilities to deal with these people,” Monguno said.

He added that the government remains committed to supporting troops with equipment and intelligence to completely eradicate the terrorists.

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