Help Nigeria In Tackling Terrorism in Sahel Region-Osinbajo Tells Egyptian Government

By Bimbo Ogunnaike

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has appealed to Egyptian government to help Nigeria in stopping terrorism in the Sahel region.

Osinbajo made the appeal Monday in Abuja when he received a delegation of members of Egypt’s Parliament (House of Representatives) led by its Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal Sayed Hamad.

According to Osinbajo, a concerted effort by many nations will help in addressing the challenges posed by Boko Haram and ISWAP in Africa.

He noted that Nigeria and Egypt have had a good relationship over the years and expressed optimism that this will continue.

“Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, we’ve always had friendly relations and cooperation with the Republic of Egypt,” he said. “We know that this very friendly and brotherly relation will continue.”

“We would want to urge that Egypt joins us in calling upon the world, the international community, to immediately see the need for concerted action against Boko Haram, Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), and terrorist groups operating in the Sahel, in particular.

“We think that it is time for that kind of concerted action in the Sahel. And with such concerted action, we believe that we can prevent a situation as seen in some parts of the Middle East where damage to lives and livelihoods was done by ISIS,” Osinbajo said.

“Just as was done in Iraq, where the world powers came together to drive out ISIS, that is the sort of cooperation that we should have now to ensure that we’re able to deal with terrorism, especially terrorism in the Sahel,” the vice president added.