President Bola Tinubu has reiterated the call for the establishment of a regional standby force that will serve as a rapid deployment tool to combat both existing threats and the ones that could emerge.
According to him, it will also serve as a strong deterrence to large-scale weapon smuggling.
The President made the call at the opening ceremony of the African Counter-Terrorism Summit in Abuja on Monday.
He noted that terrorism must be banished, as the menace threatens farmers from their farms, children from their schools, and businesswomen from their sources of livelihood, thereby putting society and government into confusion and disarray.
”The fight against terrorism required a collective approach, saying that the root causes must be addressed,” the president said.
Speaking earlier, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, said Nigeria had resumed the prosecution of all Boko Haram detainees in Kainji.
”Nigeria is also gathering intelligence on the activities of Boko Haram and the Islamic State–West Africa Province (ISWAP), to tackle the groups headlong.”
Ribadu said the summit highlights the strategic commitment of Nigeria to the UN Counter-terrorism agreement, adding that Africa faces threats from diverse terrorist groups who exploit local vulnerabilities.
He said that Nigeria has broadened its approach to counter the evolving security threats posed by activities of Boko Haram and ISWAP including the use of digital assets.
Vladimir Voronkov, the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism, on his part, said the success of the United Nations lies in the collaboration of African countries towards providing African-based solutions.
The two-day high-level summit is expected to among other things, produce solutions to the multifaceted security threats in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
The summit is being attended by President Bola Tinubu, the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, and the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé. Representatives of the Presidents of Chad and Niger are also present, while over four hundred delegates from across the African countries are in attendance.
