The South African government has expressed concerns over the use of South Africans as mercenaries in Nigeria in the war against the Boko Haram terrorist group.
Although, the Nigerian government through the coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, said the foreigners were being used as training partners, South Africa says its men may be involved in fighting.
Nigeria recently acquired helicopter gunships and tanks from South Africa and former Soviet Union countries and needs technical assistance to handle the facility.
Against The Law
Nigeria has recently recaptured several towns and villages from Boko Haram in the north-east.
South Africa’s Defence Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, told the BBC that anyone suspected of fighting in Nigeria would be investigated by South African police.
It is against the law for South Africans to fight overseas for private gain.
No serving members of South Africa’s armed forces were in Nigeria, the minister said.
The presence of South African mercenaries was first reported by a South African newspaper in January, and speculation intensified after a photograph circulated on Twitter last week showing a white man in a khaki T-shirt and body armour, next to a heavy-calibre machine gun.
The location of the photo was later identified as Maiduguri in north-east Nigeria, close to the fighting with Boko Haram.
On Thursday, South African websites reported that a mercenary from the country had been killed in an incident of friendly-fire in Nigeria. Two anonymous sources speaking to the French news agency AFP confirmed the incident.
