Military News

Nigerian troops protest against frontline deployment. According to reliable sources, A detachment of Nigerian troops fired into the air on Sunday - at an airport in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri - to protest against their redeployment to the frontline of the conflict against Islamist militants. Local media reported that the soldiers refused to board the plane that was to transfer them from Maiduguri to the town of Marte, close to the border with Niger. Witnesses said the soldiers were shooting for around four hours from 18:30 local time (1730 GMT), news agency Reuters reports. It was reported that they were angry and that is why they were shooting adding that they had previously been told they would only fight insurgents for a maximum of three years. According to reliable sources, military has not officially commented on the incident. Henrietta Yakubu, a spokeswoman for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said she was told the protest had ended. “The situation has normalised." She said the protest had not forced the airport to shut down.