By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Abuja –
The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) has indicated interest in collaborating with the Pakistan Armed Forces (PAF) in the area of defence capabilities to further boost its operations.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, stated this on Thursday when he hosted the Pakistan Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (PCJCSC), General Nadeem Raza, in Abuja.
General Irabor said that the AFN under his watch would further strengthen the long existing strategic partnership with its Pakistani counterpart on human capacity building, acquisition of military platform and modern communication gadgets.
Deputy Director, Defence Information, Air Commodore WAP MAIGIDA, in a statement, quoted the CDS as saying, “Pakistan stands a good ground for us (AFN) to improve on our defence capabilities.”
The CDS reiterated the commitment of the AFN towards partnering with both foreign and regional allies in order to build capacity of its personnel towards meeting the various security threats.
The Pakistani defence chief said he was in Nigeria to seek ways on how to further deepen the scope of the defence cooperation between Pakistan Armed Forces and its Nigerian counterpart.
General Raza added that AFN and PAF could also collaborate in the area of defence production capabilities which include manufacturing of armoured tanks, small arms and ammunition, communication equipment amongst others.
He added that there was need for both Armed Forces to share their individual experiences in the fight against terrorism which according to him, Nigeria and Pakistan were faced with peculiar security challenges. He reiterated that the PAF will continue to support the AFN in all areas of endeavours aimed at surmounting insecurity.
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