The minister of Interior, Abba Moro has said that Nigeria plans to buy at least three surveillance aircraft to check cross-border activities of Boko Haram fighters and other crimes
In a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday February 2nd 2014, Moro described the decision to purchase such aircraft as “part of the strategies to check terrorism and insecurity posed by the influx of illegal immigrants and members of Boko Haram.”
“In my recent visit to the Czech Republic, we inspected the surveillance aeroplane facility in Prague and proposals to the relevant agencies of government for the procurement of at least three of such surveillance aeroplanes,” he said.
“When we get the nod we will be able to provide them,” he added.
Moro did not mention the cost of the aircraft and whether such purchase is listed in the country’s 2014 budget.
“The combination of plazas [border facilities to screen people coming into the country], border patrol vehicles and the surveillance technology will reduce incidents of unwarranted entry into the country of persons and goods,” said the minister.
The government has reportedly been negotiating a security agreement with Cameroon to grant its troops access to Boko Haram settlement in the former French colony, which officials claim has become a refuge for the terrorists.
