United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence P. McCulley; Nigerian Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Agbeja Obada and service chiefs met behind closed doors on Monday over the spate of bombings in Kano, Jos and Maiduguri.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 11.00am inside the Minister’s Conference Room and to be covered by the media, was suddenly shifted to the minister’s office and held under closed doors due to the nature of security issues involved.
During the meeting, Ambassador McCulley reportedly expressed his country’s deep concern over the rising incidents of terrorist attacks in Kano, Jos and Maiduguri in recent weeks.
The ambassador reiterated US’s resolve to assist the country by offering training and logistics supports. The US believes Nigerian security agencies could achieve more in containing the menace if adequate attention is given to intelligence gathering.
Huhuonline.com also gleaned that the minister convinced the ambassador on efforts of the Military to contain Boko Haram and the recent successes. She spoke on the arraignment of a kingpin, Kabiru Sokoto last week and how the Military has been consistently arresting some members of the sect and uncovering their hideouts.
Also, the service chiefs cited the military assaults on the Islamic extremists in Mali by the AFISMA as the factor responsible for the upsurge in the terrorist attack and vowed to contain them.
In attendance at the meeting were Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Onyeabo Ihejirikal; Chief of Air Force Staff, Air Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; and acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Oguche.
Ambassador McCulley declined to speak with the media after the closed-door meeting, which also continued after his departure.
Speaking with journalists afterwards, Obada explained that the meeting with the ambassador was a regular one relating to US-Nigeria Bilateral Relations and how to improve upon it.
“We had a beautiful meeting with the ambassador to further deepen the cooperation between Nigeria and the United States and we discussed a lot of issues that are beneficial to both countries,” she said.
“United States of America and Nigeria have come a very long way together in terms of military cooperation, in terms of training and so many other things. We intend to keep our relationship with them to ensure that the two enjoy each other’s confidence.
The minister disclosed that the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral S Ola Saad was away to Ivory Coast attending the ECOWAS Chief of Defence Staffs’ meeting while the Naval Chief, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba was on official tour to Delta state.
She clarified, too, that the meeting was not in any way related to the controversial state pardon recently granted to former Governor of Bayelsa State governor, DSP Alamieyeseigha.
