A delegation of the European Union delegation has arrived Nigeria to cement talks on the details of support needed by the country in its fight against terrorism.
Coordinator of the EU Counter-Terrorism team, Mr. Gilles de Kerchave met with Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Agbeja Obada in her office, and both them deliberated on the modality to be adopted in the assistance.
Exchanging courtesies before their closed-door meeting, the minister disclosed the area where the country requires the help of the EU, and recalled how the efforts began in February.
“The areas of need in terms of training are intelligence gathering, training on counter-terrorism, training on arms/ammunition and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), training on disposal of IEDs, counter-IEDs training, and training on counter-improvised explosive technology,” she said. “These are the areas where we need your assistance, and we would discuss the modality to be adopted.”
Obada revealed that the Chief of Defence Staff has written a letter to the EU, through the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of foreign Affairs, detailing the training needs of the military from the union.
Earlier in his remark, the EU coordinator, who was accompanied by some top EU diplomats in the country, recalled his last two visits to the country on the same issue and asked to know the areas where the EU should assist the country in both the Boko Haram assault and the ECOMOG Force being prepared for a peace-keeping trip to Northern Mali.
“I came here last November to discuss with your government on the ways we would work together on counter-terrorism and the way we could support your efforts,” he said. “It is quite new for the union to engage in counter-terrorism. We are more active on the sub-section on treaties for engagement. We need to engage more and more.”
He expressed EU’s interest in Nigeria’s handling of its terrorism challenges, the extent of involvement of the Nigerian Army in fighting the terrorists, and how the union could help in training officer.
The European Union has increased its focus on counter-terrorism since the 1994 bombing of Madrid. With the approval of the ECOMOG Force by the United Nations last week, the EU has also promised to assist in quickly restoring peace to Mali.
