The high commission, in a statement on its website, while confirming the attendance of the UK Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, at the second Regional Security Summit, which held in Abuja on Saturday, said, “The UK’s continuing support to Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram with nearly £40m of counter-terrorist and counter-extremism support over the next four years, includes the training of almost 1,000 Nigerian military personnel for deployment to the North-East of Nigeria on counter-insurgency operations.”
The UK Foreign Secretary met with key regional leaders at the summit to discuss what more the international community could do in supporting Nigeria with the security challenges it faces.
Hammond, on arrival at the event, was quoted as saying, “President (Muhammadu) Buhari has shown strong leadership in the global fight against Boko Haram, a brutal organisation that has raped, murdered and kidnapped innocent civilians, forcing over two million people to flee their homes.
“Their allegiance to, and potential coordination with (militant group) Daesh, is a reminder of the threat they present to the region and to British interests.
“Britain and Nigeria, with support from the US, France, and its neighbours, are making progress to degrade Boko Haram, but we must maintain the momentum to win the war, and build the right conditions for stability in the region.”
Meanwhile, the United States Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Friday, said there would be no time frame to end the Boko Haram insurgency, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
Blinken, speaking at a media roundtable ahead of the summit, however, added that a comprehensive approach to ending the insurgency was possible.
He was quoted as saying, “We (the US) are extremely vigilant about Boko Haram going for training in Libya and coming back. We want to cut the existing connection.”
The US envoy added that Nigeria and the US would together develop a comprehensive approach to ending the insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin.
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