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STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan said Monday in Abuja that he was confident that with the
intensification of joint patrols, military operations and intelligence
sharing by Nigeria and neighbouring countries as agreed by their leaders
in Niamey last week, the activities of insurgents and other
cross-border criminals will soon be drastically curtailed.
Welcoming the Ministers
of Defence and Foreign Affairs of Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin
Republic who are in Abuja to work with their Nigerian counterparts on a
legal framework for the cross-border military operations approved by him
and neighbouring heads of state in Niamey, President Jonathan
reiterated his belief that such collaboration was essential for success
in the war against terrorism.
“I am quite pleased with
the decisions we took in Niamey to enhance and boost joint actions
against Boko Haram and other cross-border criminals because we have to
work together to defeat Boko Haram and other extremist groups in our
sub-region.
“I believe that if we
cooperate more and monitor our borders closely, the movement of
criminals and terrorists as well as small arms and ammunition across our
shared borders will also be drastically reduced,” President Jonathan
told the visiting Ministers who were accompanied to the Presidential
Villa by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali
and the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
The President said that
with their collective experience and professionalism, he expected the
visiting ministers and their Nigerian counterparts to come up with an
effective action plan for the successful implementation of the decisions
reached by the leaders of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin
Republic at their meeting in Niamey on October 7, 2014.
At that meeting, the
leaders announced plans to step up the fight against Boko Haram. A
communiqué issued after the meeting said that a command center for a
multinational force headed by a chief of staff will be in place by
November 20.
The leaders also agreed
to finalize the deployment of troops promised by member states to form
the multinational force within their national borders by Nov. 1.
The visiting ministers
at the audience with President Jonathan were Niger’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Mohammed Bazoun, Cameroon’s Minister of External
Relations, Mr. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, Chad’s Minister of Defence, Mr.
Benaindo Tatola, Chad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Muossa Faki
Mahamat, Niger’s Minister of Defence, Mr. K. Mahamadou, Benin’s Minister
of Defence, Mr. Robert Yarou, Benin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr.
Nassirou Bako Arifari and Cameroon’s Minister of Defence, Mr. Edgar
Alain Debe Ngo'o.
Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
October 13, 2014
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