Foreign
Nigerian President Urges Tightening Security Around Borders in Lake Chad Basin
Nigerian President
– Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday urged increased vigilance and tightened security around borders, drawing attention to the rising number of guns, ammunition and other weapons in the Lake Chad basin.
Speaking at the 16th Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) Heads of State and Government Summit in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Buhari, who is also the chairman of the heads of state and government summit, said that the threat from terrorists in the region had been relatively controlled, while the influx of weapons poses new challenges.
“Despite the successes recorded by the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) troops and the various ongoing national operations in the region, terrorist threats still lurk in the region,” Buhari said. “A substantial proportion of the arms and ammunition purchased to run the war in Libya continue to find their way into the Lake Chad region and other parts of the Sahel.”
“This illegal movement of arms into the region has increased the proliferation of small arms and light weapons that continues to threaten our collective peace and security in the region. There is therefore an urgent need for expedited collaborative action by our enforcement agencies. border security and other security services to stop the circulation of all illegal weapons in the region,” Buhari said.
The MNJTF, which is the military corps for LCBC member states, has been praised for several operations that have brought measurable stability to the Lake Chad basin, according to Buhari. ■
(Xinhua)
