Nigeria seals drone technology deal with Turkey to tackle terrorism
Nigeria and Turkey have agreed on bilateral agreements towards tackling the war against the spiralling insecurity in the country with drones technology from Turkey.
According to a statement by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity entitled: “Takeaways from President Buhari’s epic visit to Turkey,” this was part of the decision reached during President Buhari’s recent visit to Turkey.
The presidential spokesman underscored the importance of Turkey’s technological advancement, stressing that the Turkish Government was ready to aid the Federal Government via the means of drones and military ordinance.
The statement reads in part, “Turkish technology, be they drones or even through the supply or manufacture of military ordinance in Nigeria will surely quicken the process and efforts to rid the country of pockets of terrorists and the menace of kidnappers and bandits.
“From their wide experience and advances in technology in fighting terrorism and banditry, they have a lot to give and they have assured us that they will give that support.
“This is significant in many ways. Turkey today not only has a modern defence industry but one that is technologically advanced. Their intervention against ISIL in Syria and Iraq and even Libya has brought them a lot of respect.
“When they intervened on the side of Azerbaijan in that country’s war against Armenia, that participation using especially that impressive drone technology was the single most important game-changer.
“Flowing from the meeting of leaders, the heads of our defence and security establishments were afforded long engagements with their Turkish counterparts.
“The meetings took time to reflect on what Nigeria needs to overcome the problem of insecurity. These issues revolved around the use of technology to fight crime, something that everyone is doing, and so why not Nigeria.
“As we go into January next year, a team from the Turkish defence establishment is expected to be in Nigeria in the effort to advance the discussions on the issue of military procurement.
“The national security component equally has a Turkish angle to it and one that turned to be one of the gains, in the sense that both countries have a common view of what Turkey perceives as a security threat to their nation and its leaders present in Nigeria.”
