The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has restated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration to continue to secure the lives and property of all Nigerians.
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Mr Mohammed Manga, Director of Press and Public Relation, Ministry of Interior made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Manga said the minister gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Lake Chad Basin Commission, led by its Executive Secretary and Head of Mission, Multinational Joint Task Force, Amb. Mamman Nuhu and his team.
Aregbesola also reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to ensure the safe return of those who had been displaced from their communities through the activities of insurgents in the North-East.
“Prior to the coming of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration in 2015, the country was at a defining moment in her history, with acts of terrorism perpetrated by Boko Haram insurgents, which constituted an existential threat with the group occupying large swathes of territory in the North East region and was threatening to seize more areas to consolidate its dominance and project its evil ideology.”
“Besides, the economy was not only in a precarious state and soon regressed into recession, but also corruption was subverting our institutions, society, eroding public confidence in government business, thereby leaving the country in despair, bereft of self-confidence and in dire need of repositioning,” the Minister said.
Aregbesola said the Buhari Administration promised to pursue progressive change on three fronts namely : security, economy and the fight against corruption.
The minister said with the strengthening of the nation’s international partnership, participation in the Multinational Joint Task Force, insurgency in the North East, kidnapping, banditry and other acts of criminality would soon be a thing of the past.
Aregbesola gave assurance that his Ministry would continue to collaborate with the Lake Chad Basin Commission in consultation to create awareness on the Regional Stabilisation Strategy for the Stabilisation, Recovery and Resilience of the Boko Haram affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin Region .
He said ”this is with the view to ensuring improved economic development in the sub-region, historically characterised by environmental problems and worsened by repeated violence from terrorist groups.”
Earlier, Nuhu said that the team was on a mission to create awareness among the people of the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin and also to generate support for the stabilisation strategy which was aimed at bringing relief to the people affected by insurgency.
He said that the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) was carrying out an information, awareness and advocacy mission on the Regional Stabilisation Strategy for recovery and resilience in the areas of the Lake Chad Basin affected by the Boko Haram crisis.
Nuhu presented a document entitled, “Regional Stabilisation Strategy for Recovery and Resilience of the Areas of the Lake Chad Basin,” to the Minister.
He said that the AUC, LCBC and partners, in 2017, decided to develop a framework for a stabilisation strategy for the region with the aim of facilitating the transition from active military engagements to addressing the root causes of the crisis and stabilizing the area affected by Boko Haram.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mrs Georgina Ehuriah, said the ministry and its Agencies would continue to ensure full implementation of the policies and programmes of the present Administration in line with its mandate, which is ensuring internal security and citizenship integrity.