Traditionally, the US and UK have been Nigeria's military partners but since the start of the current Boko Haram insurgency, their methods have been highly ineffective. Keen to crush the rebellion, the Nigerian government is looking to the Chinese and Russians in a bid to quickly recapture the towns and villages recently seized by Boko Haram in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
Already, Nigerian security personnel from the army, police and Department of State Services (DSS) have been sent to Russia for training as special forces. Nigeria is also looking to purchase military hardware from Moscow as the UK and US have been reluctant to sell their most sophisticated equipment. A senior security source said: "The US and Britain appear unwilling to provide arms to our armed forces. It is surprising because these are two friendly countries to Nigeria which is under threat from terrorists, so we have no option but to look somewhere else for our needs pending when the issues are resolved at the diplomatic level by our government.”
Apparently, the US has already said it would not assist Nigeria with land forces and would not also share intelligence with the military. This is because they do not trust the Nigerian military which is accused of lacking professionalism and which also had moles within its ranks that leak information to Boko Haram. At the moment, the Nigeria Air force already has several Russian fighter jets in its fleet, so extending co-operation with Moscow appeared to be a logical step. Nigeria has now entered into contracts with Russian arms manufacturers for the supply of high calibre weapons to the Nigerian Army and has begun discussions with the Israeli government about the possible supply of military hardware too.
“When the chief of army staff said recently that the Nigerian Army would soon take possession of weapons that would reverse the trend in the northeast, he was referring to the deal between Nigeria and some Russian arms manufacturers. We are also in discussion with Israeli companies as we don’t want to be held ransom by our traditional allies." the military source added. As part of the agreement between Nigeria and Russia, another batch of trainees from the army, police and DSS are due billed to leave for Moscow next month to join the other three batches that are already in training.
At the recent passing-out parade at the Nigerian Defence Academy, President Goodluck Jonathan said the armed forces would set up a Special Forces Brigade to combat terrorism in the country
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