We don’t need mercenary fighters to combat terrorism, says CDS Musa

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Musa, said that Nigeria did not need the services of mercenaries to counter the activities of terrorists and bandits in the country.

Speaking on Friday, in an interview monitored on Arise News Channel, Musa expressed confidence in the ability of the Nigerian Armed Forces to win the war in the fight against terrorists and criminal groups in the country, adding that the gains made so far laid credence to the fact that the country’s security outfits are making steady progress.

He stressed that although the military has commenced assembling its Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), Musa charged the federal government to support the military with modern and sophisticated hardware to the AFN to counter emerging security threats confronting the nation

He said, “We don’t need mercenary fighters, we don’t need any foreign boots on our soil and that was why it was not even being thought out. We don’t have a foreign military base in Nigeria. We have the capacity to wage the war, we are training together.

“All we need is to get the equipment we are fighting with. The ongoing war has also helped us build the capacity to produce our own armaments. “I just came in from Jaji this morning, we are now producing and assembling our armoured personnel carrier (APC), before we start full production.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Nigeria was stabilising the West Africa sub-region and the Sahel to fight terrorism in the region as it had always done.

“We believe that if we can get these things right, we will be able to do the right thing. We don’t need external help. Remember that we stabilised Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other West African nations, so we can still do the same thing here”.
He maintained that the Armed Forces has become a beacon of hope for Nigerians, and assured that the military would continue to support democracy in Nigeria because no military personnel in Nigeria was interested in a coup.

He added that the country is working hard to return Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to democratic governance.

“We are better in a democratic setting, so we want to sustain it,” he said.