Jonathan In Niamey For Summit Against Insurgency

Posted by African Examiner African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan is presently on a one-day official visit to Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, to participate in an Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, for joint efforts against the insurgency.

In a statement by his Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan and other participating Heads of State and Government at the Summit are expected to review ongoing collaboration against terrorism and agree on further joint action to curb them within and across their national boundaries.

The release referred to the earlier meeting of Mr. President, the Heads of State and Government of the neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic in Paris in May, where they resolved, to intensify joint efforts to curtail terrorism and violent extremism.

The Paris Summit which the statement indicated was hosted by President Francois Hollande of France after the abduction of the over 200 Chibok College girls, agreed to “establish joint anti-terrorism patrols and a system of sharing intelligence to support operations against terrorists and other cross-border criminals”.

“They likewise agreed to create a dedicated team to draw up and advise on the implementation of a regional counter-terrorism strategy under the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

“Benin Republic, which participated in the Paris Summit but is not a member of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, has been invited to the Niamey talks”, added the statement.

Lake Chad Basin Commission was established in 1964 by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon with the mandate of sustainable and equitably managing shared water resources of the Lake Chad Basin and promoting regional integration, peace and security across the Basin.

The President was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, the Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, the Chief Of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh and other senior government officials.