President
Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria is concerned about Libya’s stability because
issues affecting the North African nation greatly impact the Lake Chad Basin,
which in turn affects Nigeria.
The Nigerian
leader said this on Wednesday when he hosted the Chairman, of the Presidential
Council of Libya, Mohammed Younis Menfi, in Abuja.
“Republics of
Chad, and Niger, have extensive borders with Libya, and they are our immediate
neighbours,” Femi Adesina, one of the presidential spokesmen, quoted his
principal as saying. “Whatever affects them affects us. The stability or
instability of Libya will directly affect us.”
Buhari
expressed joy over Menfi’s attendance at the Summit of Lake Chad Basin
Commission held on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Chad and the implications
for security in neighbouring nations.
The Libyan
leader who said his country is making progress in the fight against insecurity
informed President Buhari that Libya “now have one government, active on the
ground”.
“We are
expelling the mercenaries, and unifying the instructions,” he stated.
According to
him, plans are on the way to hold elections in the country.
Nigeria and
Libya, he said, share historical relationships especially in the agriculture
and oil sectors, and could not ignore each other.
“We aspire
for joint cooperation, and reactivation of previous agreements,” Menfi added.
A Region Facing ‘Severe Challenges’
President
Buhari had repeatedly linked the renewed crime wave in Nigeria to instability
in Libya.
“The problem
of herders in Nigeria is a very long historical thing. The Nigerian herders
don’t carry anything more than a stick and occasionally a matchet to cut down
foliage and give it to their animals, these ones are carrying AK-47,” the
78-year-old said during a meeting with former US President, Donald Trump in
2018.
“So, people
should not underrate what happened in Libya. 43 years of Ghaddaffi, people were
recruited from the Sahel and trained to shoot and kill. With the demise of
Ghaddaffi, they moved to other countries and regions and carried the experience
with them.”
Buhari who
swept to power on a three-pronged promise which included tackling insecurity
and repositioning the country’s economy is also calling for cooperation among
nations in the Sahel region in the battle against insecurity.
‘‘Our region is faced with difficult, several
challenges that need the support and engagement of all to overcome,” he said on
Tuesday at the opening of the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and
Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).
Source: channelstv.com
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