societies, it’s about humanitarian support, it’s about education and development partnership.”
Over the recent past, Abuja has been seeking support from its Western allies in order to tackle the growing armed violence not only in the country, but also across the continent. Earlier this week, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urged the United States to consider re-locating its military headquarters overseeing Africa, to the continent, from Germany, in light of the growing security challenges across the region.
Meanwhile, Onyeama commended the United Kingdom for the support provided as Nigeria deals with “very difficult situations”, particularly in relation to the battle against Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism.
The West African nation has been facing a decade-long insurrection by the Islamist militant group, which has also being carrying out attacks in Chad, Niger and Cameroon. On the other hand, the country has been battling with an escalation in mass kidnappings of students by armed gangs, locally known as “bandits”, who have killed six students over the past few days.
The situation has prompted calls for the federal government to seek foreign support in order to respond to the security challenges in the country. During his address to the upper chamber of Nigeria’s bicameral legislature, Senator Smart Adeyemi broke down in tears, as he claimed that the circumstances faced by the country can be compared to a civil war.
“It has gotten to a situation that we cannot sleep with our two eyes closed,” he said. “Our security system has collapsed and because it has failed we need to look for foreign support.”
