Insecurity: We Have Approached Turkey For Assistance — FG

The Federal Government said it has sought the help of Turkey in tackling the insecurity challenges currently facing the country.

President Bola Tibubu spoke on Friday at a meeting with a delegation of the Christian Association of Nigeria, led by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, at his Lagos residence, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

He called on CAN to work with his administration to achieve the nation’s collective aspirations, stating that some of the measures taken by his administration needed some time to mature.

“The mood of the nation is peaceful, although our ungoverned spaces are so large. The challenge is real, but we will surmount it. We are very religious. We are prayer warriors. We need your focus, vigilance, and cooperation.

“Community and State Police will be a reality once the National Assembly completes the required legislative inputs; Military hardware is difficult to replace. It is expensive and not available off the shelf.

“Our orders for four attack helicopters from the United States of America will take some time to arrive. We have approached Turkey for assistance.

READ ALSO: Insecurity: New Approaches Will Bring Desired Results, Tinubu Assures Nigerians

The development followed recent cooperation between FG and the United States in tackling insecurity and insurgency in the country.

Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to announce the US had struck in North-West Nigeria, during which several terrorists were killed.

The Nigerian government later confirmed the attacks and said they were carried out in collaboration with the US.

The strike has, however, been criticised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The party criticised the Federal Government for not announcing the airstrikes by the US before President Donald Trump did so.

PDP’s spokesman, Ini Ememobong, says the Federal Government ought to have briefed Nigerians before the US authorities did so.

“The Federal Government should have been the first to report the news in order to properly sensitize the Nigerian populace, instead of waiting to confirm news already in public circulation, unless they were taken unawares like the rest of the citizens,” Ememobong said in a statement on Friday.

On his part, Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, asked Nigeria to immediately stop all military cooperation with the US following America’s airstrikes on ISIS terrorists on Christmas Day.

Gumi, in a post on his Facebook page, warned that any foreign military intervention, particularly by the United States, would exacerbate insecurity rather than resolve it.

“Nigeria should halt all military cooperation with the USA immediately because of its imperial tendencies worldwide and seek the help of those neutral countries mentioned. Nigerians are too educated to be played with. This is going to be a 2027 campaign discourse,” he wrote on Friday.

The cleric asked the Federal Government to instead seek military assistance from those he described as more “neutral” countries, such as China, Turkey, and Pakistan.