Terrorism in Nigeria, complex- UK minister
British Minister for Africa, James Duddridge has said, the disturbing trend of violence unleashed on Nigerians by the Boko Haram sect and allied groups is a complex phenomenon that requires varied approaches to resolve.
Duddridge said this when he led a delegation to pay a courtesy visit on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama in Abuja yesterday.
He said the United Kingdom is a strong ally of Nigeria in the effort to mitigate the challenges posed by terrorism and insurgency.
Speaking earlier, Onyeama decried the complex nature of the challenges the country was 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 and France”, he said.
Onyeama, who also noted that intelligence sharing will continue to help, said there is multiplicity of issues to address such as deradicalization, education, jobs, girl child education and so many others needed to solve the challenges of terrorism.
The minister told his British guests that although Nigeria was still struggling with high level of inflation and unemployment, the economy has shown some signs of improvement.