Saturday PUNCH gathered that seven deployed US military personnel  with the 50 stationed in the US Embassy in Abuja, and a yet to be ascertained number of British military personnel have commenced strategy meetings preparatory to the crucial operation.

A senior Nigerian military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitive nature of the operation, said on Friday, that the foreign forces are not only interested in retrieving the girls from the insurgents, but also in improving the capacity of their Nigerian counterparts to fight terrorism.

It was gathered that the US, the UK, France, and China have so far offered help in human and their technical expertise to deal with the wider problem of terrorism in the North East.

According to the source, nations involved in the operation were concerned about the possibility of the spread of the sect’s atrocities and ideology across the region hence the need to nip it in the bud.

He said that the operation was likely to be in the mould of the multinational effort in Mali, which dislodged the Islamic militants in the Northern part of the country in 2013.

The source said, “Some of the operatives of the US, UK and others are already coordinating in the country.

“One thing you should note is that the troops are not only coming to look for the girls, there is a threat of terrorism in the sub-region.

“If urgent steps are not taken to dislodge these terrorists and their sponsors, they can over-run the entire area and move over to Francophone West Africa. You remember that they attacked a part of Cameroun recently.

“The sentiments on the ground do not favour the operation against the insurgents in the North-East. The coming of the foreign troops is one of the best things that would happen to us; their coming is a welcome development.

“The Americans and other foreign troops are expected to remain in the country till after the 2015 elections. The mission is to sort out the issue of terrorism in the country.”

Details of the operation are still being kept as a closely guarded secret as none of the embassies of the countries involved volunteered any information about when it will start in earnest.

-Punch