President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and
the President of Chad, Idriss Derby, on Monday, held a closed door
meeting to discuss strategies by which the Boko Haram insurgency could
be ended.
The meeting which held at the Defence
House, Abuja, provided an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss
other issues of mutual interests.
After the meeting, Buhari told reporters
that Chad, Niger and Cameroon had been helping Nigeria to secure its
borders and that the meeting was based on security as well ways of
enhancing commerce and industry.
He said, “Due to the insurgency attacks,
some of the bridges were blown up while infrastructures were destroyed.
These were some of things that we discussed and God willing, when our
government is in place, we will sit and make sure we have a
comprehensive review of the security situation in the North-East and how
it affects the country.”
Earlier, Derby, who spoke through an
interpreter, said he was in Nigeria to congratulate the Nigerian people
and the President-elect for successfully holding an election which was a
positive example for the rest of Africa.
He said, “Nigeria and Chad are two
countries with one people. We have many things in common, a long
tradition and a long history together. In this sense, the visit here is
to meet with the President-elect and at the same time to congratulate
President (Goodluck) Jonathan and to enhance the bilateral relations
aimed at meeting the common challenges.”
The Chadian leader also said the meeting
was in continuation of the relationship between the two countries, which
discussed issues of common perspectives.
He said, “Chad and Nigeria are facing the
same challenges and how to meet the expectations of the people. Both
countries are members of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the two
countries, together with other members are considering how to bring
about peace, stability and security in the sub-region with the core
issue of Boko Haram which is being handled by the two countries.
“On the issues of common interests, we
will have a joint action to handle the issue of Boko Haram and we will
overcome it and by the grace of God, peace and security will prevail in
the sub region.”
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