Nigeria’s effort at ending the Boko Haram insurgency has run into another hitch with the refusal by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to grant over-flight permits to cargo planes conveying
military equipment and armored tanks procured by the Nigerian government from Pakistan.
Nigeria chose to procure arms from alternative sources such as Pakistan and Russia other than Nigeria’s traditional allies led by the USA, UK and France. This was premised on Nigeria’s displeasure with the US after they blocked the sale of American-manufactured Cobra attack helicopters from Israel.
With the position of the West, Nigeria decided to turn to the East, chiefly Pakistan, from which the FG was able to procure a huge cache of military hardware needed to prosecute the war against Boko Haram.
Saudi Arabia has however refused to grant the cargo planes that will convey the arms over-flight permits through its airspace. The only alternative now is for us to ship by sea, which would take much longer…. Our dreams of finishing ds Boko boys b4 Dec. 31st are no longer valid……