The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru has expressed the Nigerian Government’s readiness to deepen bilateral relations with the European Union, EU, on security cooperation.
The Minister made this known when he received the delegation of the European External Actions Service ( EEAS) at the Ship House, Abuja.
He stated that “Nigeria wants to restore partnership with the European Union and strengthen collaboration with the EU in fighting violent extremism, maintain peace and security as well as enhancing regional cooperation.”
Badaru noted that Nigeria needed intelligence and security equipment from the EU to combat insecurity in the country.
He said; “the major challenges Nigeria is facing are banditry in the North West and North Central, Boko Haram in the North East, oil vandalism in the South-South, sectional agitation in South East and general insecurity at the Gulf of Guinea and the Lake Chad region.”
The Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle said; “Nigeria as the giant of Africa needs the cooperation of EU in the fight against insecurity bedeviling the country.”
Matawalle said that the safety of Nigeria is the safety of Africa and called for the cooperation of the EU in the fight against insecurity in Nigeria.
The Head of the delegation, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service, EEAS, Helena Konig said that the purpose of the visit was to seek Nigeria’s area of priority in terms of security issues where the EU can intervene.
She pointed out that the priority areas would be discussed extensively at the forthcoming high Ministerial meeting.
According to her, the EU wants to work extensively with Nigeria in counter-terrorism to stabilize the region, because Nigeria is a strong supporter of maintaining the African territorial region.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
