LAGOS
Nigeria's military command and control center (MCCC) will be operational in the next 21 days, an army spokesman said Wednesday.
The announcement comes days after all the relevant arms of the military relocated to the country's northeast to boost its counter-terrorism efforts.
"The installation of hi-tech equipment, infrastructure development of the center and posting of additional operations staff have also commenced," spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement.
"They are to be completed within 21 days, when the MCCC will be fully operational," he said.
Usman said once the center becomes fully operational, all military decisions regarding the fight against Boko Haram will come from the MCCC.
He said military chiefs touched base at the center since Tuesday last week.
"With the establishment of the center, all strategic and operational decisions in the fight against terrorism and insurgency will emanate from the MCCC. This will ensure faster response times; improved situational awareness and better coordination of all stakeholders," according to the army spokesman.
"The center will also give the needed impetus that will ensure the prosecution and successful conclusion of the war against terrorism," he said.
"It will also provide the required interface between the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the Multinational Joint Task Force to be deployed at the Lake Chad Basin Area at the end of the month of July 2015," Usman said.
Nigeria is fighting a violent insurgency waged by Boko Haram, or the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), in its northeastern region, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced.
Early this year, the group graduated from being a self-styled religious group concerned with local issues to swearing allegiance to Daesh and its global jihadi movement.
