The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has ratified Bilateral Agreement on Defence with Niger Republic and Memorandum of Understanding on Defence with UK and Northern Ireland.
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku disclosed this when he briefed State House Correspondents on the outcome of FEC meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Wednesday.
Maku said council ratified both agreements following a presentation by the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada.
The minister said the Defence Cooperation Bilateral Agreement between Nigeria and Niger Republic was aimed at providing mutual military support and security of both nations’ common borders.
He said the agreement will also aid intervention/ military assistance, exchange of intelligence, internal and external security and joint military exercise/operations.
“Nigeria and Niger share common borders and common security challenges. The agreement will enable us to do more joint work in dealing with the issues of terrorism and threat of cross border terrorist activities.
“We need closer co-operations in terms of sharing training and activities that will enable us improve in confronting the challenges we are facing in the northern part of the country’’, he said.
Maku said the MoU on Bilateral Military Cooperation between Nigeria and UK and Northern Ireland is aimed at establishing a bilateral military cooperation with the framework of competent authorities as defined in the national legislation.
He said the MoU is also aimed at building an enduring defence relationship that will contribute to the security of each participant.
“What is envisaged in this MOU is that Nigeria, Britain and Northern Ireland who are all parts of the Mou will share experiences and support each other on training and peace operations in both ECOWAS and UN.
“It is expected that we will share experiences and offer support to one another.
“We are also looking at the area of terrorism, sharing of information, training and cooperating to fight terrorism’’, he said
The minister said the agreement is based on equality and mutual respect among the three countries.
