The Defence Headquarters described the warning by the United States of America about bandits’ infiltration of the West African region as a call to sustain onslaught against Boko Haram terrorists and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
It noted that it was not the first time America was raising such alarm.
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The United States Africa Command (US AFRICOM) on Tuesday warned that the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terrorist groups were exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic and gradually taking over the West African region after losing ground in Syria, Iraq and in the Middle East.
The Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, Major General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, warned that the extremists were deploying several strategies to re-establish themselves in the region and expand on the entire continent.
But the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, said the Armed Forces was not oblivious of the potency of such infiltration, noting “it was the Nigerian Military who raised alarm of movement of terrorists from the Middle East to West Africa and it is conscious of it”.
“For me this is not the first time they are raising such an alarm. The alarm is as old as maybe five or ten years ago and the armed forces and the country are conscious of it.
“When the conflict in Libya was declared officially that it ended, which did not end what happened? It was we, our NIA, state service and all that raised the information that these people are moving.
“Have we not captured foreigners among the people that have been terrorising us in this country?
“So it is just like a call to keep doing what you are doing, so the general public should know that the security agencies are on top of that one,”
Eneche added, “Recently we captured some in Niger State, where are they coming from”?
He said strategies have been put in place to halt them.
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