President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan will undertake a one-day official visit to Niamey, capital of Niger
Republic tomorrow, Tuesday, October 7, 2014 to participate in an Extraordinary
Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
President Jonathan and
other participating Heads of State and Government are expected to review
ongoing collaboration against terrorism and agree on further joint action to
curb terrorism and insurgency within and across their national boundaries.
It will be recalled that President
Jonathan and the Heads of State and Government of the neighbouring countries of
Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic resolved at a meeting in Paris in May
this year to intensify joint efforts to curtail terrorism and violent
extremism.
At the Paris Summit hosted by
President Francois Hollande of France in the aftermath of the dastardly
abduction of the Chibok College girls, President Jonathan and
neighbouring heads of state and government also agreed to establish joint
anti-terrorism patrols and a system of sharing intelligence to
support operations against terrorists and other cross-border criminals.
They likewise agreed to create a
dedicated team to draw up and advise on the implementation of a regional counter-terrorism
strategy under the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
Benin Republic, which participated in
the Paris Summit but is not a member of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, has
been invited to the Niamey talks.
The Lake Chad Basin Commission was
established in 1964 by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon with the mandate of
sustainably and equitably managing shared water resources of
the Lake Chad Basin and promoting regional integration, peace and security
across the Basin.
President Jonathan who will be
accompanied to Niamey by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu
Wali, the Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, the Chief
Of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Barde and other senior government
officials will return to Abuja at the conclusion of the one-day summit.
Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
October 6, 2014
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