British Minister for Africa, Mr. James Duddridge, at a meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyema, said the disturbing trend of violence unleashed on Nigerians by Boko Haram sect and allied terror groups is a complex phenomenon that would require varied approaches to resolve.
Fielding questions from journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, when he led a delegation to pay a courtesy visit on Onyeama, Duddridge said the United Kingdom was a strong ally of Nigeria in the efforts to mitigate the challenges posed by terrorism and insurgency.
He stated: “The situation is massively complex and no partnership is going to resolve the multiplicity of problems whether it is Boko Haram or Daesh or a number of other issues. In the UK, you have a strong partner across the full gamut of issues, so, it is not just about intelligence and hard security and military, it is about societies, it is about humanitarian support, it is about education and development partnership.
“It is not an end game, we don’t get to a point where we would say ‘this is the end of our relationship with Nigeria,’ because we got what we want, we set a higher bar, we are long –term partners.”
Onyeama decried the complex nature of the challenges the country is facing, especially in the North-east due to the unconventional nature of the war against terrorism.
“It is not a conventional war, where the enemy is readily identifiable; it is asymmetrical warfare, and we are dealing with very difficult situations. We have an intelligence fusion unit with our partners -the US, UK, France,’’ he said, adding that intelligence sharing will continue to help.
Onyeama stated that there are issues to address such as deradicalisation, education, jobs, girl-child education and so many others needed to resolve the challenges of terrorism.
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