The Nigerian and Egyptian militaries are to partner on intelligence-sharing and training to combat the threats by Boko Haram and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria terrorists in the two countries.
The Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sameh Shoukry, who said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari would soon visit Cairo for talks on military and bilateral relations between Egypt and Nigeria.
According to him, Nigerian and Egyptian militaries would collaborate and work together to degrade the capability of the two terrorist organisations and end the security crises in North and West Africa.
The minister observed that Boko Haram and ISIS have the same objectives of overthrowing the governments in Nigeria and Egypt, stressing that it would take a robust partnership between the two countries to exterminate the terrorist groups.
Shoukry explained that the Egyptian Army had been tackling the ISIS terrorists with precision to reduce collateral damage, stressing that the fight against terrorists in Africa must be comprehensive and total.
He said, “Egypt and Nigeria are facing terrorism and there is need to cooperate to deal with the challenge and other conflicts. Egypt looks forward to increasing relations with Nigeria Army in the areas of intelligence cooperation and training. We have recorded considerable victory against ISIS and the operations are undertaken with precision to avoid collateral damages, ISIS power is degraded.”
Meanwhile, the Republic of South Sudan has said it needs the assistance of Nigeria in the areas of training for its security personnel, many of whom were former rebels, who were conscripted into the security agencies.
South Sudan Vice President, James Igga, who said this while responding to questions from journalists at the inaugural meeting of the South Sudan Nigerian Chambers of Commerce and Industries in Abuja, explained that the security situation in his country has improved tremendously.
Igga stated that the peace process in his country would resume soon, noting that the crisis would have been resolved, but for the shifting positions of the rebel leaders whom he blamed for the continuous violence in parts of South Sudan.
The VP called on Nigerian businessmen and investors to take advantage of the economic opportunities in the young nation, adding that South Sudan has large tracts of fertile land as well as untapped mineral resources, which serious-minded entrepreneurs could invest in.
Igga said, “We need capacity training for teachers, the civil service and students. We also need security training for the security personnel. We want Nigeria to assist with the training of the Army and the police. You know most of them were guerrillas and if you are a guerrilla, you learn to shoot at people, but you can imagine if you convert such a person into the police, what would happen? So we need security training for our personnel.”
