Nigeria seeks UN support to eliminate border crimes

Nigeria Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Salihi Magashi, has appealed to the United Nations (UN) to support the Nigerian military to completely eliminate security threats in the country.

The minister made the request during a meeting at the ministry headquarters with some UN delegations on security, governance, and development in the Sahel in Abuja on Tuesday.

Magashi stated that Nigeria is doing well under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari in curtailing the effrontery and audacity of the terrorists, especially in the north-eastern part of the country.

He added that Nigeria is also contributing to the counterpart funding, the deployment of manpower, and the provision of other logistics in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

Magashi, however, called on the UN to make a serious case for improved resources on their part towards the promotion of global peace and regional economic prosperity to reduce the high level of poverty at all levels.

The Head of the UN Mission and Leader of the four-man delegation, Abdullahi Boureima, alongside Nigerian panelist, Jibrin Ibrahim, put the mandate of the UN High-Level Panel in context, focusing on security, governance, and development concerns facing the Sahel region.

According to the UN delegate, one of the reasons for the meeting in all of their assigned countries, including Nigeria, was to articulate and aggregate views on how to effectively address the Sahel region’s existential challenges.

They thanked Magashi for approving the visit, stating that capturing Nigeria’s perspective on the way forward is germane to their assignments, which set the tone for the meeting.