Sunday, November 24

UK Assistant Chief of Defence Staff Visits Nigeria, Pledges More Support in Counter Insurgency Operations

The United Kingdom (UK) has expressed satisfaction with the successes so far recorded by the Nigeria Military in the counter insurgency campaign against Boko

Haram Islamic jihadist in North East.

UK has also pledged further assistance to the country in order to consolidate on the remarkable victories against the violent organization.

UK Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, Rear Admiral Simon James Ancona, while leading a delegation of the UK Ministry of Defence and Engagement on a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, also disclosed that his country was strongly motivated to continue in its support for Nigeria because of the tenuous implication for both regional and global peace and stability.

Rear Admiral Ancona reiterated that the way the Nigerian military subdued the Boko Haram terrorists has further put the Nigerian Armed Forces in particular and the nation in general on a positive radar of global assessment index.

He commended the military and its allied security agencies for their doggedness and sacrifice that have led to the decimation of the murderous terrorists group and called for sustenance of the onslaught to wipe insurgency from the country.

The senior military officer pledged that the UK Armed Forces would continue to work closely with their counterpart in Nigeria towards strengthening the capacity of the Nigerian military to be more potent and responsive in the discharge of their constitutional mandate.

The UK team leader explained that the delegation was in Nigeria as a follow-up to variety of regional and global security matters discussed earlier in the year at a Peace Keeping Conference held in the UK.

The visit, he said, would further strengthen and improve the historic and harmonious bilateral relationship between the two great nations, assuring the CDS that British contingent in Nigeria would always abide with extant rules and operations mandate of troops in Nigeria.

In his response, General Olonisakin expressed his profound gratitude to the UK Government for all the assistance the Nigerian Armed Forces have enjoyed from the UK.

He however solicited for stronger tie in intelligence sharing, military hardware, manpower capacity building and training in anti Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and Deep Penetration Detection Devices (DPDDs).

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