President Muhammadu Buhari has called for a stronger anti-terror cooperation between Nigeria and France to check and overcome the activities of terrorists and insurgents in the Sahel region and beyond.
Buhari said this on Tuesday, in a special feature on post-COVID-19 opportunities in Nigeria-France relations published by a leading Paris-based magazine.
According to him, the cooperation has become imperative as terrorists and jihadists had taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to unleash attacks on innocent people and organisations across the Sahel region.
Buhari said terrorism has been on the rise across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger as well as around the Lake Chad Basin.
“Now Nigeria and France should deepen our anti-terror cooperation if we are to overcome this scourge – particularly in the aftermath of the murder of the late President of Chad.
“Where for historical ties, support came to Nigeria from the UK, and to the G5 from France, terrorists do not recognise these border-aligned distinctions. We must be agile and flexible, cooperating cross our borders to cut the head off their groups.
“Indeed, we have already done much to strengthen our bond. Intelligence sharing is well developed along with training on improvised explosives.
“But there is more we can do in cross-border military exercises and coordinating strategy.
“We know France has borne much of the strain for combating terrorism in the region.
“We, the leaders of Sahel countries, must also do more to present a unified front to lobby other Western nations, particularly Great Britain and the United States and the European Union for further military and humanitarian assistance,’’ he said.
He added that “It is upon these conditions, the lies and propaganda of terrorists who falsely claim to be Islamists promising salvation can find an audience,’’
Buhari said military gains might not provide the whole solution to the security challenges, saying governments must also provide environments conducive to the economic prosperity of their citizens.
“We know that military gains do not provide the whole solution. Without security, economic opportunity remains fragile. Without economic opportunity, the propensity for conflict grows.
“The solution must therefore be two-pronged. If we do not improve those conditions, it leaves our people vulnerable to indoctrination, as one is vulnerable to COVID-19 without a vaccine,’’ President Buhari said.
