EU, Defence Ministry form partnership to tackle insecurity, terrorism

The security of the Niger Delta, which is the nation’s main source of income, is crucial, according to the European Union, which has declared its willingness to help Nigeria against banditry, abduction, and the Boko Haram insurgency.

EU Ambassador to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West Africa States, ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, disclosed this while on a courtesy visit to the ministers of defence, at Ship House in Abuja.

”The EU is committed to ensuring that Nigeria overcomes the issues of insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and Boko Haram,” Isopi said.

The northeast and the Lake Chad region, both of which have been devastated by the Boko Haram insurgency, as well as the Niger Delta, where the government derives its income from oil and gas, and maritime security, were other areas that the European Union was worried about.

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She said that the EU would increase its military assistance in Nigeria to put an end to insurgency.

In a previous speech, the minister of defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, announced that the federal government no longer had the option of negotiating with bandits in order to address national security issues as they arose.

The decision, according to the minister, was made as a result of previous attempts by various governments to use it without success.

He also called for more intelligence and equipment support from the European Union, EU, in the fight against insecurity, saying it preceded the present administration.

Badaru said the European Union needed to support Nigeria in the fight by taking a collaborative approach of curative and preventive measures to end the crisis in Nigeria.

He disclosed that Nigeria needed military support in the areas of intelligence sharing and equipment to end insurgency in the north-east and other form of criminalities in the country in general.

Badaru said ”dialogue with bandits was not the option in resolving the crisis as many states have tried it and failed.”

Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defence, said in his remarks to the delegates that Nigeria needed the assistance of the EU in areas such as intelligence sharing, employee training, and the provision of cutting-edge equipment to combat the country’s problems with insecurity.

He emphasised that the EU could assist Nigeria in reducing crime by providing intelligence to the Nigerian military and early warnings before crimes were committed.

“We need to be proactive and preventive in the fight against all forms of criminalities in Nigeria,” he said.

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