The Federal Government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, and the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism, UNOCT, have signed Memorandums of Understanding, MoUs, for strengthening counter-terrorism operations in the country.
The ONSA’s Head of Strategic Communications, Zakari U. Mijinyawa, disclosed the MoU signing in a statement he signed on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, both parties said the documents were in furtherance of Nigeria’s joint efforts with the international community in combating the global menace of terrorism.
“They also pledged continued collaboration to identify, collect, and disseminate good practices and lessons learned, and explore new opportunities by promoting dialogue and partnership through the development of capacity-building activities,” the statement noted.
The National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre, NCTC, retired Rear Admiral YEM Musa, who represented the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, noted that the two MoUs signalled a momentous milestone in cementing Nigeria’s partnership with UNOCT towards enhanced collective counter-terrorism efforts.
On his part, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, said the MoUs envisaged further cooperation in various areas, including countering terrorist travel, financing of terrorism, border and maritime security, and delivery of counter-terrorism training in Nigeria.
The statement noted that heads of key implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, also attended the signing ceremony.
