President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the fall of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for the aggravated terrorists attacks in Nigeria and the entire Sahel region.
Speaking during a dinner hosted in honour of Commonwealth Heads of Government, late Friday, in Malta by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11, President Buhari consequently called for the establishment of a Commonwealth Committee to oversee the rendering of greater assistance and support to Nigeria and other member-countries adversely affected by the scourge of terrorism.
The Nigerian leader expressed the hope that with the growing rate of extreme radicalism across the world, the committee would have been established before the next meeting of the organisation.
According to him “We have agreed to a joint task-force for the elimination of Boko Haram, but it may not be easy, especially after the events in Libya when trained people with weapons moved back to Sahel region from where they were recruited by the former Libyan leader”.
President Buhari who informed the gathering of efforts by Nigeria and other members of the Lake Chad Basin to tackle the menace of Boko Haram said “those weapons and expertise in their use are now aggravating the situation in the Sahel and further south”.
The President said that he also expects the committee to visit member-countries of the Commonwealth where terrorist organisations have established a foothold with a view to evolving practical strategies for more meaningful assistance to the affected countries.
While urging the Commonwealth to show greater resolve in helping Nigeria and other developing nations in its ranks to overcome the challenges of economic development, security, terrorism and corruption added that “With the improvement of global communications, terrorism has no borders now. What happened recently in France had a profound effect on all of us, but very few countries realize that Nigeria has suffered terrorist casualties of over 10,000 killed in the last six years,” the president stated further.
Buhari lamented that following the increased attacks by radical extremists in the country, “Right now, we have over two million internally displaced persons, most of whom are women and children, and most of the children are orphans” .
While calling for greater international support for Nigeria and other countries affected by terrorism, President Buhari expressed his administration’s appreciation of the assistance already being received from the Commonwealth, Britain, the Group of Seven Industrialized Nations, France and the United States.
“I am grateful to Britain, France and the United States. They have already sent teams to train the Nigeria Military and Police in the control of terrorism,” the president said.
“The Commonwealth has helped us in so many ways by the visible support they have been giving to us overcome the problem of terrorism.”
The Queen’s Banquet at which he spoke was also attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon
-Frontiers News
