President
Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, October 19 admitted that he was disturbed and
surprised by the claim made by members of Boko Haram sect about the suppor
t
they have been receiving from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Vanguard
reports that Buhari however said he was happy that his administration had been
able to prove that it could contain the insurgents.
The
statement by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu,
revealed that the president at a joint press conference he held with President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey after their talks in Ankara.
“We were
very surprised and disturbed by the claim made by Boko Haram on what they have
been getting from ISIS. “We know we will be able to contain them and we have
proven that we can do it. “We are very pleased that Turkey is in a position to
assist us and has been strengthening our educational and health institutions,”
Buhari reportedly said at the press conference.
According to
the statement, the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation between the
security agencies of both countries to counter terrorism. Buhari said he was
‘‘very pleased’’ that the defence ministers of both countries held extensive
discussions on developing new strategies for counter-terrorism.
He said: “We
are very pleased with the progress of the meeting so far and we are going to
wait for the details of meetings between the two countries. “We will as a
result of the meeting between the ministers and officials of both countries
strengthen rapidly whatever their recommendations are.”
Commenting
on the degradation of Boko Haram in Nigeria, the President said the improved
security situation in the North East was an eloquent testimony to the efforts
of his administration in combating terrorism since he came into office in May
2015 Buhari said the two leaders also discussed the prospects of increasing
their bilateral trade, which has exceeded $779m in the first eight months of
2017.
“There are a
lot of potentialities in terms of investments and a lot is being done in the
educational and health sectors in Nigeria. “These will be strengthened and I
assure you that Nigeria is prepared to accept Turkish business people to come
and explore more of Nigeria’s potentialities,” the Nigerian leader said. In his
remarks, Erdogan said Nigeria had great potentials and remains “a global actor
in terms of economy, demographics and its peacekeeping records.”
He indicated
that Turkey was interested in investing in Nigeria’s electricity, refineries
and gas sectors, adding that increasing the flights between Turkey and Nigeria
would further improve commercial and people-to-people relationships. On the
fight against terrorism, the Turkish leader said: “There is no difference
between Boko Haram, Fethullah Terrorist Organisation or Daesh , which have all
killed, inflicted pain and hardship on innocent people.
All of these
organisations are hordes of murderers that feed on the innocent people, and in
the fight against terrorism, we will stand with our Nigerian friends, and we
are ready to share our experience and provide all kinds of support. “We also
expect the same cooperation from Nigeria in fighting against Fethullah that
murdered 250 Turkish citizens last year.”
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