Nigeria has hired mercenaries to combat Boko Haram
as military chiefs face a December deadline to crush the militants,
according to senior military sources. Turkish news agency,
Anadolu Agency, reports that the mercenaries, estimated at around 250
personnel and hired from South Africa-based private contractor
Specialized Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection (STTEP), are being
deployed along with fighter jets in Operation Fire Force, a source at
Nigeria’s defense headquarters said on condition of anonymity.“The
mercenaries have been reengaged and their platforms are being
deployed,” the source said. “By platforms, I mean fighter jets, helos
[helicopters], coms [communication], surveillance, medics, etc.” STTEP
includes veterans from the South African apartheid era who will work
with and train a Nigerian strike force, according to the source. Another
army source confirmed the development to Anadolu Agency. “There is
definitely something happening in that direction,” the source said,
again on condition of anonymity.
According to STTEP’s official
website, the company’s trainers and advisers are drawn from
“conventional, clandestine, and covert units of the pre-1994 South
African Defense Force”.
It claims to have a proven track record of success in Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and Central and South America. Describing
the use of mercenaries to fight militants as “shameful” during the
March 2015 election campaign, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari
condemned the practice.
Buhari, a retired general, said the practice
represented the depth of weakness of the Nigerian army. Asked why
the Buhari administration is again deploying mercenaries, the defense
HQ source said it appeared to be the most practical option if headway
was to be made against militants whose guerilla tactics are new to the
Nigerian military.
Nigeria claimed significant success against
the militants in the run-up to the March election, with some analysts
crediting the mercenaries.
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