'Foreign Fighters Are In Boko Haram' - Gusau

 

The Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd), raised an alarm that foreign fighters are involved in the activities of the violent insurgent group, Boko Haram. Like any other terrorist group all over the world, these foreign solders are growing in strenght and in rank.

 

This alarm was raised yesterday  during the opening of a four day Defence Advisers/Attachés annual conference in Abuja. The conference has as its theme as:‘Re-engineering the Nigeria Defence Attache System Towards Enhanced National Security’, and is holding at the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Abuja.

 

Calling for a united effort in combating the menace, Gusau said that tackling the contemporary security challenges championed by non-state actors like Boko Haram was becoming more complex with the introduction of foreign fighters to execute brutal terrorist acts against the local populace of their host countries.

 

He said, “The global security environment remains shaky and unstable; small groups and small countries are the focus of instability and inhumanity which arrest world attention.“The new and ugly face of global terrorism is marked by execution, extreme brutality, impunity and abductions in different regions of the world, and as the surge of terrorism persists, the perpetrators share a common agenda to unleash terror, mayhem, destruction and instability around the world.

 

“There is no doubt that the foreign fighters have added a troubling dimension to this emerging phase of terrorism, from targeted attack by one group a few years ago, we now have a mobile band of thousands of terrorists sweeping across the areas, destroying lives and even attempting to establish Caliphates.

Gusau also said “The destructive effect of terrorism are enormous, over the past few years, and also,Nigeria has been and is still confronting the threats forced by religious extremists to peace and stability predominantly in the North-eastern part of our country. The cost are high, several people have been killed, all communities razed and hundreds of persons kidnapped.”

 

He said it is imperative to bridge the intelligence gap against the terrorists and that Nigeria re-engineers her defence and security posture to cope with the threats.