The dismantled planes would be transported to a steel company in the north-western Kebbi state for recycling into other industrial products, Mr Omeogu said, Punch reports.

BBC: Nigeria 'plane graveyard' cleared

In March 2012, its special forces backed a failed Nigerian military raid to free Christopher McManus, who had been abducted months earlier with Italian Franco Lamolinara from a home in Kebbi state.

NPR: Italy Says 7 Foreign Hostages Killed In Nigeria

The 33-year-old said the country had come a long way since she was growing up under a military regime in the northern state of Kebbi.

CNN: Filmmaker aims to explode Africa 'bombs and bullets' myth