Malian Chief Of Army Staff Visits His Nigerian Counterpart, Lt. Gen. T.Y Buratai

Malian Chief Of Army Staff Visits His Nigerian Counterpart, Lt. Gen. T.Y Buratai

The Malian Army on Monday approached the Nigerian Army for support and cooperation for the training of its personnel, especially in the areas of armour and artillery.

The Malian Army Chief of Staff, Col. Maj. Abdrahamane Baby, who paid a visit to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai in Abuja, said the call was necessary to enable his country to tackle insurgency and terrorism.Maj.

He maintained that the visit was to seek the cooperation of Nigerian army in that regard, as both countries were facing insurgency and terrorism.

He said: “The aim of this visit is to explore further cooperation between the Nigerian Army and Malian Army.

“We are facing a transnational threat of terrorism and we believe we need to get closer to see what we can learn from each other.

“That was why Malian army personnel were sent to Nigeria for training “so as to garner experiences in the areas of armour and artillery.”

Colonel Major Baby said the armies of both countries needed to share experiences and knowledge “as we both fight terrorism.’’

Responding, The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Buratai assured his counterpart that the Malian personnel would be given slots in armour and artillery training schools in Nigeria. Buratai assured his counterpart that the Malian personnel would be given slots in armour and artillery training schools in Nigeria.

He also assured that the Nigerian Army would cooperate with Malian Army in all aspects as both countries tackle similar security challenges.

Buratai added that terrorists in both countries adopted the same method of attacks, hitting soft targets and government installations, adding that Nigerian Army was ready to collaborate with Malian Army in checking attacks.

“This is because the threats of insurgency and terrorism in Northern Mali is also a threat to Nigeria,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has inaugurated locally fabricated Infantry Patrol Vehicles (IPV) that would enhance troops operations across the country.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali who inaugurated the vehicles and also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a new Army cantonment known as Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment at Giri, on Airport, Abuja.

The Chief of Army of Staff, Lt. -Gen. Army of Staff, Lt. -Gen. Army of Staff, Lt. -Gen. Tukur Buratai explained that the vehicles were locally designed and fabricated by personnel of the Nigerian Army after extensive research.

Buratai said that the platform would further serve as force motivation as efforts were being stepped up to clear remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East, noting that the vehicles had been already been deployed to the region.

According to him, the vehicles are one of the platforms used for fire power demonstration during the 2017 Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship (NASAC) earlier held at the Sambisa forest in Borno.

He further explained that the vehicles could be used for long-range battles as they could be mounted with General Purpose Machine Gun – GPMG and other calibres of weapon.

Buratai said: “The inauguration of the patrol vehicles is part of the overall strategy toward the establishment of a military industrial complex, which is expected to be a major employer of labour when it takes off.”

Earlier, the minister said that the process of transforming the army, anchored on three pillars, capacity building, reorganisation and troops welfare which began two years ago, had not been easy.

Dan-Ali said that the construction of the cantonment at Giri would provide a conducive working and living accommodation for officers and soldiers in the FCT.