Nigeria to buy arms from Russia to tackle insurgency

According to The Nation who got the knowledge of this yesterday , Nigeria is seeking to buy arms from Russia .  It is unclear if Russia has granted Nigeria’s request, following an arms embargo by the United States. 

The military has opted for more aerial bombardments of insurgents than infantry encounters since the  aerial strikes have assisted in killing more insurgents in the last few months. A source who revealed this  said that a delegation had gone to Russia for talks on the arms purchase. War planes, helicopters and other equipments would be ordered if talks goes on well .

The source said: “The US has refused to sell arms and lethal equipment to Nigeria to prosecute the war against Boko Haram.The US, instead, prefers to concentrate on assistance to Nigeria to consolidate its democracy.We have had pilots trained in the US. We train our military pilots in the US. They come to Nigeria for conversion.The Federal Government has no choice than to look elsewhere for war planes, helicopters and lethal equipment against Boko Haram insurgents.We have opened up negotiation with Russia for arms bailout. We want to buy military hardwares from them.More countries are also interested in assisting us. We need this help urgently now,” he said.

The source spoke about the reported training of 1,200 special troops in Russia, saying it is all propaganda to frustrate Nigeria’s moves to get equipment to fight Boko Haram