The United Nations has pledged continuous partnership with the Nigerian Army in tackling security challenges in the country and the Sahel region.
The Representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Africa, His Excellency, Mahamat Annadif Saled disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya at the Army Headquarters Abuja.
According to a statement by the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said Mahamat commended the effort of the NA in stemming the security challenges and activities of insurgents in Nigeria and by extension the SAHEL regions.
The UN envoy who was accompanied on the visit by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in West Africa and the Sahel, His Excellency Mr. Francois Luncemy Fall said it is very crucial to adopt a regional approach and provide antidotes to tackle terrorism and other contemporary security challenges bedeviling West Africa and the Sahel region.
He added that most of the current security challenges confronting west African states are a spill over of the Libyan crises. He assured the NA of partnership in the quest to checkmate the proliferation of arms and profiling of terrorism financiers.
Responding, the COAS noted that countries across the globe are currently confronted with terrorism and other security challenges peculiar to each nation, and that the NA in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies is making steady progress in the fight against insurgency and will not relent in ensuring the menace is brought to an end in Nigeria.
He also calls for partnership with the NA in the areas of terrorism victims’ support, profiling of terrorism financiers, arms proliferation control and technological support.