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Buhari, in Elmau, Germany reaffirms commitment to fight B’Haram

By Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja
09 June 2015   |   12:07 am
ENCOURAGED by strong pledges of greater support for Nigeria in its war against Boko Haram terrorists in the north east of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has reaffirmed his administration’s total commitment to ending the insurgency in the shortest possible time Speaking at separate meetings with leaders of the G-7 industrialised countries yesterday in Elmau,…
UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon, President Muhammadu Buhari and Foreign Minister of Germany, FW Steinmeier at the cocktail reception at the G7 summit

UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon, President Muhammadu Buhari and Foreign Minister of Germany, FW Steinmeier at the cocktail reception at the G7 summit PHOTO: @NGRPresident

ENCOURAGED by strong pledges of greater support for Nigeria in its war against Boko Haram terrorists in the north east of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has reaffirmed his administration’s total commitment to ending the insurgency in the shortest possible time

Speaking at separate meetings with leaders of the G-7 industrialised countries yesterday in Elmau, Germany, Buhari said Nigeria would leverage on the global support it is getting towards ensuring that the insurgents are brought to their knees, without further delay.

The President’s comments came against the backdrop of the decision by the Armed Forces high commend to begin the movement of the operation’s central command to Maiduguri in compliance with the Presidential directive as contained in Buhari’s inaugural speech on May 29.

In a meeting with President Francois Hollande of France after his participation in the Outreach Programme, Buhari said that Nigeria would welcome greater support and cooperation from France and other friendly nations for its ongoing efforts to overcome Boko Haram and restore full security and normalcy to areas affected by the group’s atrocities.

The President said that his administration was already taking concrete action to build a more efficient and effective coalition of Nigeria and neighbouring countries against Boko Haram.

Nigeria, he said, would appreciate more intelligence on the terrorist group’s links with ISIS, movements, training and sources of its arms and ammunition to facilitate the perfection of fresh tactics and strategies being evolved overcome terrorism and insurgency in the country and its sub-region.

President Buhari reiterated at the talks with his French counterpart that there was absolutely no link between religion and the atrocities of Boko Haram.

“There is clearly no religious basis for the actions of the group. Their atrocities show that members of the group either do not know all or they don’t believe in him,” President Buhari said.

In his remarks, President Hollande commended Buhari’s concerted efforts to galvanize Nigeria’s armed forces, security agencies and neighouring countries for more decisive action to eradicate Boko Haram.

He said France would give Nigeria and its coalition partners greater support against terrorism and insecurity, including military and intelligence cooperation, to help them overcome the security challenge posed by Boko Haram and its global terrorist allies as quickly as possible.

He also called for greater bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in other areas including trade, economic and cultural relations.

President Buhari also received similar pledges of enhanced support from Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and Chancellor Angela Merkel whom he also conferred with before departing from the venue of the G-7 2015 summit.

He is due back in Abuja today.

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