Nigeria hires soldiers from SA, former Soviet Union to fight terrorists

monjola sotubo

March 12, 2015 2:58 PM

Rumours that Nigeria had paid outsiders to fight its war against terror arose when photos of foreign armoured tanks surfaced on Twitter.

Nigeria has hired mercenaries from South Africa and the former Soviet Union to aid its fight against Boko Haram, reports say.

A Reuters journalist identified the area in which the photos were taken as Bama road, near the University of Maiduguri in Borno State.

Security and diplomatic sources confirmed to Reuters that more than a hundred mercenaries have been hired by the Nigerian government.

Nigerian military spokesperson, Chris Olukolade has refused to confirm or deny the reports.

South Africa has however said none of its citizens is permitted to participate in mercenary activity as it is illegal under the country’s laws.

“The police have a responsibility to ensure that, when they come back, those people are arrested and the [National Prosecutions Authority] has a responsibility to charge them. There are consequences for going out of the country and provide [sic] any form of military assistance as a mercenary, not as part of the deployment by government,” South African Defence Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said in response to reports of South Africans in Nigeria.

Soldiers from Chad, Niger and Cameroon have also been deployed to Nigeria as part of a multinational force formed to fight against Boko Haram.

monjola sotubo