Nigeria 2013-2017

**davidbfpo** · 04-14-2015

A round up in The Guardian on those black and white South Africans, who fought thirty years ago in their 'small wars', notably in SW Africa (now Namibia) and today "advising" in Nigeria:

Who are the members of this dad’s army, willing to risk death abroad and prosecution at home to fight someone else’s war? What is their motivation? And are they welcomed by those they are ostensibly helping?

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-on-boko-haram

Their activity is not popular back home, indeed the government says they will be prosecuterd - even if "advising" the Nigerian state.

Helmoed Heitman a veteran South African journalist on military matters sums them up best:

They have no problem working with black guys and don’t have a racial hangup. Most people in Africa have long since realised this. What they look for is someone with real shooting experience. The old SANDF are not always liked, necessarily, but they are highly regarded.

As I posted in the current Nigeria thread you can spot them sometimes, in Post 213:

There is a very short clip (starts at 10:46) which suggests the advisers were far more important, as they had wheeled APCs - which the Nigerian Army unit did not have and if you stop the film at 11:01 you see a parade with at least eight white advisers and two or three at the front conducting the parade.

Link:https://news.vice.com/video/the-war-...o-haram-part-3

In a Post 204:A South African report on the convoluted context for

Beeld newspaper had reported that former SADF soldiers would form the core of a multinational team of private military experts, who were then en route to Nigeria, to help the NDF fight against Boko Haram militants. The 100-strong team had been tasked with training the Nigerian military to launch a massive campaign against the terrorist organisation.

They have been in country for a significant time already, involved in training some specialised NDF units. As per normal they are now deployed in an advisory capacity at the front. This includes being deployed with the NDF special forces, artillery, armour and infantry units on the ground. ‘Most of the gunships [Mi 24 Hinds] are being piloted by former SAAF members and they are flying a huge number of sorties, including nocturnal operations, with great success. There is also close involvement at HQ level, assisting in the planning of operations and the coordination / interpretation of the intelligence effort.