NIGERIA: Defence HQ Dismisses Panic Over Terrorists’ Drone Activities

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria 

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, has reassured Nigerians to remain calm amid reports of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (BH/ISWAP) terrorists using drones to target military locations.

According to the DHQ, those drones are not military-grade and pose no significant threat to the country.

The Director of Defense Media Operator, Major-General Edward, shared this during a press briefing at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

Maj. Gen Edwards, said: “The report about the usage of drones. I don’t think that there’s a need for any unnecessary panic about the usage of drones.

“We are at war against terrorists and insurgents across our country and all you need to know is not far from what you see happening in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Hamas, and all that. The use of drones on the battlefield is not new.

“Now when we are talking of drones, we don’t want unnecessary panic because these are not professional drones, not military-grade drones.

“These are toys that they went to buy and found a way to put one or two things on board and use them. How effective were they? They were not effective. Are we doing something about it? Yes, we are.

“Since we now know that this is where their thinking and their thoughts are going, we have to take measures to control such attacks. I don’t call them attacks, I call them harassments.”

Gen. Buba further emphasised that there was no foreign military base on her soil, adding that Nigeria has refused to be a ground for any proxy war.

He said: “We don’t have any foreign military base. We said this more than one time, we do not have any foreign military base in Nigeria. Anyone who is saying that is trying to be mischievous… trying to be misleading and he has an agenda.

“There is no foreign military base in Nigeria to be a ground for proxy war. We don’t want our country to be a ground for proxy war. If you accept one person, the enemy of that person will start to woo you. That is proxy war. We don’t want that.

“So anywhere you hear anybody talking like that, I think they are doing that as a distraction.”

The DHQ also assured citizens that the government is taking proactive measures to address any threats posed by such drone activities.