The Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai, has called for the assistance of the United Nations to remove mines from the former Boko Haram Enclave, Sambisa forest after the eviction of the terrorists from the forest.

General Buratai, who made the call in an interview in Maiduguri yesterday, said that the assistance of the United Nations, relevant NGOs and development partners are needed because such project requires much resources and effort that the country alone may not be able to finance.

He said “The army is currently doing a limited demining of routes in the forest to enable troops to move around for operations. Strictly speaking, we have not started demining the Sambisa forest.

“The areas we are concentrating on are where we are working, where our troops will have to move from one point to the other.

“These are the efforts we are making to create safe lanes for troops to pass from one point to the other.

“But, for our deliberate demining efforts, it will require much, much resources, much more effort, and we may even request for the civilian demining support in that regard.

“Demining is not restricted to the military only, there are several organisations that have been doing this, the UN is one and there are other NGOs that are involved which actually work under the umbrella of the UN.

“So, as comprehensive efforts, these bodies need to be invited to support what the military is doing right now in a limited capacity in that regard,” Buratai said.

He, however, said the army had acquired more equipment for the demining to make the areas where troops operate in the Sambisa safe for them.