Concerned by the growing insecurity in some parts of Nigeria caused by the Boko Haram Islamic sect, the United States and European Union have offered to provide assistance to contain the situation, the local press reported.
The US on Monday January 23 agreed with the Nigerian Federal Government to incorporate security in the North of the country as a critical component of the Nigeria-US Bi-National Commission (BNC).
According to The Guardian, both countries have re-arranged the BNC cooperation framework by splitting its Regional Security Cooperation and the Niger Delta component into an entirely separate working group, with emphasis on insecurity in the North. At the inception of the commission, focus was on protecting the Niger Delta from militant attacks.
The EU, on its part, offered to support Nigeria in overcoming Boko Haram security threat to safeguard democracy, lives and property, Nigerian Tribune announced, citing EU Spokesperson Catherine Ashton.
The commission also promised to discuss the situation in Nigeria at its forthcoming ministerial meeting in early February. The security situation in Nigeria was also the focus of a meeting of top serving and retired senior officers of the country's military in the capital, Abuja, yesterday January 24. It was within the context of a two-day seminar on finding new ways of tackling terrorism and other crimes in the country.
In a related development, the Nigerian Parliament has resolved to revisit the Anti-Terrorism Act passed last year. In a statement on Monday, the Special Adviser to Senate President, Kola Ologbondiyan, disclosed that the decision was reached after leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives met in Kano on Friday January 20 to assess the damage caused by Boko Haram serial attacks in the city earlier that day, The Guardian said. Speaking at a public gathering in Lagos, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka warned that reprisal attacks against Boko Haram could worsen the situation.
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