Terrorism: UN envoy calls for greater cooperation among W/African countries

Said Djinnit, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa, has called for greater cooperation among countries in the sub-region in the fight against terrorism.
Djinnit, who is also the Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, made the call in Abuja on Tuesday when he visited the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, in her office.
He said the visit was to reiterate the resolve of the UN to work with Nigeria in tackling terrorism.
Djinnit also said that he was in Nigeria to see how the UN could work closely with ECOWAS and leaders of the region to stabilise the region and create conditions for lasting peace.
He said: “The threat of extremism or terrorism is affecting all our countries in West Africa and in Africa in general.
“So, there is the need for a general effort.
“This should be a national effort.
“Though Nigeria is putting in its own effort but we need to mobilise the entire region to work together to address the root cause of the problem.”
Djinmit said collaboration was necessary to address the concern and challenge in a “coordinated manner within the framework of the existing plan of action with ECOWAS, African Union and the UN.”
He said Nigeria was faced with a big challenge and that it was the responsibility of the state to ensure the safety of citizens of the country.
Djinmit said the government’s efforts to provide security for the citizens should be done by taking into account the issues of human rights.
He commended Nigeria for the role it had been playing in the Gulf of Guinea in the fight against piracy.
The envoy said that he was aware that there were agreements and security arrangements between Nigeria and Cameroon.
“I encourage both countries to work closely in addressing common security threats at their common borders, especially in the context of the growing pressure put by the extremist and terrorist groups in the borders,” he said.
In her remarks, Obada said the relationship that existed between Nigeria and Cameroon dated back to the 1960s, adding that the relationship was anchored on affinities and shared destiny.
She said that there were more than four million Nigerians living in Cameroon, which made the country the biggest host of Nigerians in the Diaspora.
The minister listed the areas of cooperation between both countries to include exchange of information and experiences on security investigations.
She said the cooperation also involved “surveys, studies and research to prevent acts of trans-border security and conduct of border control operations between both countries.”
Obada said Nigeria had constituted a team for the implementation phase of the work of the border patrol and that the Ministry of Defence was fully involved.
She said Cameroon was expected to forward the list of members of its team to effect joint policing of the borders.