The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has linked the recent resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in the North-East, particularly in Borno State, to the group?s renewed efforts to destabilise countries across the Sahel region, including Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic.

Speaking to journalists in Kaduna on Tuesday at the end of his two-day working visit to military institutions in the state, the minister assured Nigerians that the Federal Government is actively tackling the threat.

He noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces have gained momentum in the last two weeks and neutralised a significant number of insurgents.

During his visit, the minister toured key military sites including the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Permanent Site and the Postgraduate School at the old site, where he inspected ongoing projects and interacted with senior officers.

He also visited Buffalo Engineering Technical Services (BET) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Kaduna.

Addressing the continued attacks in parts of the country despite gains made against banditry in the North-West, Badaru explained that each security challenge varies in nature.

He cited the situation in Benue as predominantly communal, driven by farmer-herder clashes, which requires a non-kinetic approach.

?We are working on resolving these conflicts by engaging communities and ensuring herders remain within designated grazing areas,? he said. ?We are making progress in both providing security and preventing further violence.?

?In the North East, most especially Borno state, we have seen the resurgence of Boko Haram that translates to what is happening on the Sahel today. If you are following what is happening in Niger, Burkina-Faso and Mali, you will see that these attacks have heightened everywhere.

?There is a renewed vigor by the insurgents to destabilize the Sahel, we are doing a lot to curtail them and if you will do justice to us, in the past one or two weeks, you will see that the armed forces is gaining momentum and attacking and eliminating them and the serial attacks to soldiers camps has reduced to the barest minimum.

?The troops are doing wonderfully well, its a new threat and we are tackling it, we will fight it and normalcy will return by the special grace of God and your prayers,? he assured.

He however expressed delight that, with the support of the Armed Forces, the Federal and State governments, through the application of both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, normalcy has returned to communities in Birni Gwari and other parts of Kaduna State, as markets are open and traffic is flowing in and out unhindered.

Speaking on his to the military institutions, the Defence Minister expressed satisfaction, saying that, with efforts of the institutions in Research and Development, Nigeria will soon be self-sufficient in military equipment.

According to him, ?the institutions are doing very good job and they are also carrying the instruction of Mr. President in deep research so that we will eventually self-sufficient in our military requirement including the platforms and the equipment we need to execute the military functions.

?I believe they are doing very well in research, we have seen the new innovations that they doing ranging from MWRAPS, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV?s) and other equipment that are really needed by the armed forces. He noted that the production of military hardware locally means the country is moving from import to self-reliance, we are producing these equipment locally.

?We have seen also the workshop, most of the damages to the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, also known as MRAP vehicle, you have seen are being repaired there and we are doing very well in maintenance, new developments and new research. We have also seen the new buffalo MRAPs and other equipment they built which is really commendable,? he said.

On training of military officers, the Minister said, training is critical to any development especially in the armed forces, assuring that, the Federal Government will continue to support the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) to train the Cadets and turnout very good and highly committed officers from the academy.

Earlier, the Commandant, NDA, Major General Abdul-Khalifa Ibrahim commended the Federal Government for providing the necessary resources and upgrading the academy?s infrastructure.

He also expressed appreciation for the exemplary leadership of the Honourable Minister of Defence. (The nation)

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