Nigeria to boost military ties with Egypt

Defence Headquarters has pledged to strengthen military cooperation between Nigeria and Egypt with a view to curbing insurgency. The pledge was made at Defence Headquarters in Abuja, yesterday, during the Second Meeting of the Egypt-Nigeria Joint Military Cooperation Committee.

According to the director in charge of policy, Defence Headquarters, Major General Usman Abdulmumuni Yusuf, “What we are looking forward to is how to derive maximum benefit from experiences in fighting insurgency and other crimes. Egypt has a good experience in fighting Islamic jihadists in some parts of the country. We have been experiencing insurgency in the northeast for sometime now. We are going to be sharing experiences and trainings.”

Egyptian Assistant Minister of Defence for Foreign Relations, Major General Mohamed Salah, said the committee covers many areas of cooperation “to enhance overall military relationship between Egypt and Nigeria.”

It will be recalled than in 2016, during a bilateral meeting with Egyptian leader, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President Muhammadu Buhari had agreed to strengthen ties between the two states and re-establish historical closeness.