FG seeks UN support for areas impacted by terrorism in Lake Chad

The federal government has urged the United Nations and development partners to increase their support for the implementation of the regional strategy for Boko Haram-affected areas in Nigeria and other Lake Chad Basin countries.

Rear Admiral Yem Musa (retd), national coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), made the call at a side event during the ongoing Third United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week (CT Week) at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States of America.

A statement by the director of strategic communication NCTC Ozoya Imohimi on Friday disclosed that CT Week is a biennial gathering of Member States and international counter-terrorism partners. The theme of the third CT Week is ‘‘Addressing Terrorism through Reinvigorated Multilateral and Institutional Cooperation’’

According to the national ´coordinator, the reintegration of the vast number of repentant and low-risk individuals associated with Boko Haram and ISWAP poses a significant new challenge for the government of Nigeria, so the need for more international support to address the menace.

In the last six years since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2349, Nigerian Government has undertaken several responses to address the impact of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin, these efforts had guided the 2022 Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, the 2019 National Security Strategy, the 2017 National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, as well as the 2016 National Counter Terrorism Strategy, he said.

While thanking the United Nations and its agencies for their tremendous support for Nigeria’s rehabilitation efforts, Musa emphasized the need for greater global awareness and support to address the inherent challenges and risks in reintegrating all categories of returning terrorists, particularly those moving around Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the Lake Chad Basin region, the UN and Developmental Partners must continue to strengthen support towards the implementations of the regional strategy for stabilisation, recovery and resilience of Boko Haram affected areas, he stressed.