FG Orders 36 New Attack Helicopters, Fighter Jets To Tackle Insecurity

The Federal Government has revealed that it is expecting 36 new fighter attack aircrafts to intensify the war against insurgency in Northern Nigeria as well as other parts of the country.

The information was contained in a document obtained by THE WHISTLER, highlighting the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari since he took over on May 29,2015.

According to the document, the Buhari-led administration had acquired a total of 38 new aircraft since 2015, which has so far aided “successful counterinsurgency operations targeting Boko Haram” and other insurgent groups in Northern, Nigeria.

The 38 acquired aircraft include 10 Super Mushshak; five Mi-35M Helicopters; two Bell 412 Helicopters; four Agusta 109 Helicopters; two Mi-171E Helicopters; 12 A-29 Super Tucano and three JF-17 Thunder.

It has, however, ordered 12 new AH-1Z Attack Helicopters and 24 M-346 Fighter Attack aircraft.

The document also revealed that the Nigerian Navy had acquired more than 400 new platforms since 2015. They include 172 Riverine Patrol Boats (RPBs), 114 Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) and two Seaward Defence Boats (SDBs).

Others are 12 Manta Class/Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC), three Whaler Boats, four Barges / Tugboats, 22 Fast Attack Boats, 14 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), four Helicopters, 14 River Town Class, 14 House Boats and four Capital Ships.

Likewise, it said the Navy had established a Naval Base Lake Chad in Baga, Borno State, in line with the President’s directive and it had also received Presidential approval for new Naval Bases in Lekki, Lagos; Oguta, Imo State and Kano, Kano State respectively.

Data by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) had revealed that Nigeria witnessed its worst insecurity-related death toll since 2016 as no fewer than 10,398 people were killed in 2021 across the country. Among them were 4,835 civilians and 890 security personnel.

The country had also witnessed no fewer than 12,795 people were killed in 2015 but the figure decline in 2016 where 5,748 were reportedly killed, and 4,638 in 2017.

The rate of kidnapping also had similarly dropped between 2015 and 2016, with the number of victims falling from 926 to 347.

But, since then, there has been an alarming rise of kidnappings annually, from 532 in 2017 to 994 in 2018, to 1,441 in 2019 to 2,879 in 2020.

In 2022, no fewer than 5,287 people have so far been reported abducted.