October 23, (THEWILL) – The United States Government says the Federal Government is expected to deploy the Super Tucano aircraft only in the North-East of the country against Boko Haram terrorists.
The US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Jonathan Finer, made this known to newsmen in Abuja.
Finer along with the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, at an event held earlier in the week, said the terms of the agreement during the sale of the 12 Tucano jets were explicit.
Reacting to a question on whether the Tucano fighter planes might be deployed against secessionists in the South-East, Finer said the planes were an important platform for security, particularly in the North, expressing pleasure over the conclusion of the deal.
Finer said, “We are pleased to deepen our security cooperation with the Nigerian government. I think we made it very clear our expectations about this platform where it would be used and in the right way and we are always raising concerns when we have them and that it’s true with all our security partners around the world.
“This is an important platform for security, particularly in the North and we are pleased the transaction is finally concluded.”
THEWIL learnt that the military had not been able to deploy the Tucano jets against bandits in the North-West because the agreement signed with the United States was that the aircraft, would be deployed against terrorists and not bandits. This implies that the fighter planes have only been deployed to fight Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East.
It was gathered that the complaints by the service chiefs led to the recent recommendation of the National Assembly that bandits should be designated as terrorists, so the planes could be deployed against the bandits.
The Federal Government had ordered 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft to aid its war against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East. The aircraft were said to have cost $423m.
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