President Mohammadu Buhari
• EU donates $50m to MNJTF
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
Again, President Mohammadu Buhari has stated that
no part of the Nigerian territory is under the
occupation of the Boko Haram insurgents, just as he
promised to redouble his government’s efforts to fight
the insurgents.
This came as European Union announced a donation of
$50 million for Nigeria and the countries within the
Lake Chad Basin to fight terrorism.
The president reiterated his position yesterday when he
welcomed the President of Germany, Mr. Joachim
Gauck, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Buhari said the Nigerian military had succeeded in
decimating the terrorists who had hitherto occupied some
local government areas in the northeastern part of the
country.
Speaking during a joint briefing with his guest, Buhari
regretted that his German counterpart was welcomed by
the news of attacks in Dikwa, Borno State, by the
insurgents.
He, however, stated that the terrorists had resorted to
attacking soft targets, having been pursued out of their
base by the Nigerian Army.
The president said the challenge facing the government
now was to relocate and rehabilitate the victims of
insurgency.
He said: “It is a pity Boko Haram welcomed you
with explosions in Borno that took so many lives, but I
have attempted to explain in so many forums that Boko
Haram is not what it used to be.
“While they were firmly holding 14 out of 774 local
governments areas when we came in, they are not
holding any local government for now.
“What they have resorted to is using improvised
explosive devices to cause maximum casualties on soft
targets as they did yesterday, doing what they are
capable of doing now.
“But for them to organise conventional attacks on
military, police installations and take hold of towns, I
think they are not able to do that. They send groups to
go and kill vulnerable targets.
“Having said that, our efforts have to be redoubled to
make sure that the people in IDP camps are
rehabilitated especially the children. More than 60 per
cent of the two million people in IDP camps are
women and children and more than 60 per cent of the
children are orphaned.
“Some of them don’t know where they came from, they
don’t know their parents. This is a pathetic situation the
leadership of this government is facing because the least
we should do is to quickly resettle those children, and if
possible try and identify their neighbourhoods,” he said.
Buhari, who thanked Germany for its assistance to
Nigeria in the anti-terrorism war, also commended the
European country for the quality of jobs of its
construction companies in Nigeria.
“I am pleased with the response from the G7, from the
United States to Europe. Training teams have been
sent to our institutions. Help has been sent, but what
we are doing is to try get assistance for our own
committee under General T. Y. Danjuma in the area of
infrastructure.
“We also thank Germany for the help they extended to
making sure that the last election was a success. We
thank them for the help they are giving us in terms of
what happened during the Ebola and polio scourge.
“We would also like to mention to the president and
their companies that their quality of jobs are appreciated
by Nigerians. We know it is at a price, but the
important thing is if you get our jobs very well done,
then it saves you so much in terms of maintenance,” he
said.
He also appealed to the German president to assist
Nigeria to get a permanent seat in the United Nations
Security Council.
“Outside bilateral ties, in the United Nations, Nigeria
an African country feels that we are qualified by our
numbers, by our size, by our position in Africa to have
a seat in the United Nations Security Council. We
hope that Germany will support us,” he said.
Also speaking, the visiting president thanked Buhari for
the reception accorded him.
He said Germany would assist Nigeria in the war
against the insurgency and announced a donation of $50
million to the Multinational Joint Task Force
(MNJTF).
“We indeed had a very fruitful exchange today, permit
me to express my condolences in the face of the attack
on the IDPs yesterday
“As regards my visit, I am grateful for being invited and
being given the opportunity to know the country and its
people and to talk to you about how we can further
intensify and deepen our bilateral relationship.
“Nigeria is indeed a very hospitable country with
impressive people and the spirit of hope of a country
being on the move, I was very impressed by that.
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