President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday told the global community that the Armed Forces of Nigeria has weakened the Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists.
Speaking during his speech at the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, President Buhari said while terrorism remain a global challenge, Nigeria will work closely with UN to tackle it.
According to Buhari, “Mr. President, terrorism continues to dominate security discourse worldwide. In Nigeria, Boko Haram terrorist group though fragmented by internal strife and weakened by our defense forces is still active and preying on soft targets.
“Nigeria will continue to work closely with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office with a view to bringing this group to an end.
“Nigeria has spared no efforts in addressing the challenges of terrorism posed by the activities of Boko Haram in North-East Nigeria, the Lake Chad region as well as banditry in the North-West and the North-Central.”
He said Illicit trading and circulation of small arms have fueled criminal activities and insurgency, adding that Nigeria is deeply concerned about this trend.
“Mr President, Nigeria remains deeply concerned about the illicit transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons. Their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread in many regions of the world have had socio-economic consequences, especially on the continent of Africa.”
“It is on this note that my delegation calls for the worldwide application of the arms trade treaty to curb and define accountability in conventional arms trading which is critical to the security of nations.
“This is in recognition of the need for a broad-based global partnership in the ongoing battle against trans-border crimes including terrorism and piracy.
“Mr President, we must deal not only with the symptoms of conflict but also the causes that started the conflict in the first place. These include poor and undemocratic governance, human rights abuses, poverty, ignorance, injustice and inequality.
“There are no easy solutions to these problems, they require long-term investments and more effective international cooperation,” he said.