Nigeria To Get 12 Mi-35 Attack Helicopters From Russia

Nigeria and Russia have signed a deal for Moscow to supply 12 Mi-35 attack helicopters to Nigeria, a senior official at Russia’s federal military-technical cooperation service has said.

The contract was announced as Russia welcomed dozens of African heads of state to the southern Russian city of Sochi amid a push by Moscow for clout on the continent.
The Nigerian government had in 2018 paid $496 million for the purchase of two Tucano jets from the United States, which it said would be delivered in 2020.
Nigeria’s ambassador in Russia, Stephen Ogbah, said, “We’re sure that with Russian help we’ll manage to crush Boko Haram given its experience combating Islamic State in Syria.”
Expectations were high that President Mohammadu Buhari will take the opportunity of his trip to Sochi for a continental summit to seal the deal with Moscow on the military assistance to crush terrorism in Africa's biggest economy.
Sources had said the government was interested in buying Russian helicopters, planes, tanks, and other military equipment, adding that a draft version of the deal had already been finalised.
“We hope President Buhari can take the talks to their logical end. The agreement will open new possibilities in such areas as the supply of military equipment and training for specialists.” Ogbah has said before the commencement of the summit which eventually culminated in the signing of the deal.