By Dele Ogbodo
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said even though Nigeria and her neighbours are synergizing to check terrorists activities,
widespread poverty he admitted remains a factor boosting unrest and terror recruitment.
He however said Nigeria, has done a lot to reverse the terror trend and halt the advancement of Boko Haram.
The President made the disclosure at the 73rd Session of the Committee and 41st Conference of Speakers of National Parliaments of the African Parliamentary Union (APU), in Abuja.
He said: “We have in collaboration with our neighbours strengthened our armed forces to effectively confront terror groups and have also initiated programmes to address widespread poverty, which has been identified as a significant factor fueling unrest and boosting terror recruitment.
“In spite of this progress, we are not unmindful of the remaining challenge of armed invaders who ransack villages and small farming communities and commit terrible acts including the cold-blooded murder of women and children. We are also making progress in addressing this challenge.”
According to him, terrorism, armed banditry and organized crimes have continued to be a security challenge for member states of the African Union (AU), the proliferation of arms aided by abuse of the ease of movement of persons across freer borders, which have been historically in place to encourage African unity, have contributed to acts of terrorism by groups like Al Shaabab, ISIS and Boko Haram.
He said: “We have in collaboration with our neighbours strengthened our armed forces to effectively confront terror groups and have also initiated programmes to address widespread poverty, which has been identified as a significant factor fueling unrest and boosting terror recruitment.
In spite of this progress, he said government is not unmindful of the remaining challenge of armed invaders who ransack villages and small farming communities and commit terrible acts including the cold-blooded murder of women and children. We are also making progress in addressing this challenge
“While I commend the actions of African governments in dealing with these evil groups, it is my strong belief that the APU will develop strategies to assist governments in confronting this menace and, as Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), I will be more than willing to fast track your resolutions for deliberation and adoption at the ECOWAS sub-region and the much larger African Union.
“At the recently concluded Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in China, many trade and cooperation agreements running into hundreds of billions of dollars were signed between China and individual African countries.” He said.