The lawmaker representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, believes the US military support for Nigeria’s fight against insurgency is a step in the right direction, arguing that the country needs all the help it can get to crush insurgency.

Ndume was a guest on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s flagship current affairs show, Politics Today.

“The fact that the Americans are now helping us fight insurgency is a welcome development. We have been looking for this support for a long time and have made many efforts to get it, but have failed,” the former chief whip of the Senate said.

“Now that we have this window of opportunity, we must utilize it. I have complained many times that our major setback in this fight is a lack of certain resources; now, America has agreed to provide those resources free of charge.”

About a week ago, General Dagvin Anderson said both countries have “increased collaboration” in defence and security.

“We agreed that we needed to work together on the way forward in the region,” Anderson, the head of the US Africa Command (Africom), said at a virtual news conference.

“That has led to increased collaboration between our nations to include a small US team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years.”

But he did not give details of the “collaboration” with reports claiming that about 200 US troops are on the ground in Nigeria.

Although there were concerns over the development, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) explained that the security partnership is focused on capacity building, professional military education, intelligence sharing, logistics support, and strategic dialogue.

In a statement, the DHQ Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, said all engagements with the US are done with total respect for Nigeria’s sovereignty and bilateral frameworks.

General Uba assured Nigerians that the Armed Forces of Nigeria remain committed to protecting the nation’s territorial integrity.

Ndume also corroborated the DHQ’s position, clarifying that US “troops are not involved in direct physical combat.”

“They are not engaging the enemy themselves. Instead, they are providing technological support and training,” Senator Ndume said.

“Furthermore, they are not operating independently; they are working under the leadership and command of the Nigerian Army”.

Last year, President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over the “killing” of Christians.

Trump vowed military action in Nigeria if the situation persists. On Christmas Day, the US struck the West African country, targeting terrorists.

Both countries later confirmed that the military action was jointly carried out, with Nigeria providing intelligence and other forms of support. (Channels)

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