US Tells Buhari, Don’t Deploy Super Tucano To South-East

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that the US has requested that the Super Tucano aircraft be deployed to the north, rather than the South-East , to combat Boko Haram militants.

At a ceremony attended by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, earlier this week, US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer told journalists that the conditions of the agreement regarding the sale of the 12 Tucano aircraft were explicit.

In response to a question about whether the Tucano fighter jets may be used to battle secessionists in the South-East, Finer said the planes were an important platform for security, particularly in the North, and expressed delight at the deal’s conclusion.

“We are delighted to deepen our security collaboration with the Nigerian administration,”

Finer added. I believe we made our expectations about where this platform would be utilized and how it would be used extremely clear, and we are always expressing issues when we have them, as are all of our security partners around the world.

“This is a critical security platform, particularly in the North, and we are glad that the transaction has finally been completed.”