Nigeria: Buhari thanks Jordanian King for donation of 200 armoured fighting vehicles

20 Septembre 2017

ABUJA, Nigeria, September 20 (Infosplusgabon) - The Nigerian Presidency on Wednesday announced that President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in New York met with King Abdullah II of Jordan and thanked  him for Jordan’s support to Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram terrorism and insurgency through the donation of military hardware and pledge to further supply helicopters.

Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said, in a statement, that the meeting took place on the sidelines of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

President Buhari said the very expensive donation of about 200 armoured fighting vehicles “reflects true concern for Nigeria's security situation and genuine goodwill towards a friendly nation.”

According to the statement, President Buhari also reassured King Abdullah of Nigeria's commitment towards the proposed Aqaba Process with countries in the Middle East region as well as Nigeria's willingness to play a leading role in bringing together countries in the West African sub-region into this collective security arrangement.

The President pledged Nigeria's continued desire for enhanced bilateral ties with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The Jordanian monarch informed the Nigerian President that his Government was in the process of opening an embassy in Abuja in the next few months, and appreciated the support being extended to his country by the Nigerian government in this regard.

He told President Buhari that his National Security Adviser would soon be working out the details of the Aqaba Process with his Nigerian counterpart.

President Buhari was accompanied to the bilateral meeting, the third of its kind since the inception of the current administration, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd); and Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,  Professor Tijjani Bande.

Soon after President Buhari took office in 2015, the Jordanian King had offered a hand of friendship, cooperation and support for Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and insurgency.

This resulted in the National Security Adviser undertaking two visits to Jordan to follow up on issues previously discussed with the monarch, and the donation of military hardware and pledge of further support.

“These gestures are aimed at enhancing Nigeria's operational capabilities in the fight against terror both within the country and the Lake Chad Basin which affects neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger where the Multinational Joint Task Force is engaging the Boko Haram insurgents and terrorists," said the statement.

The National Security Adviser's second trip to Jordan on the invitation of the King in January 2016 to attend the 3rd Aqaba Process, also resulted in a renewed commitment between the two countries to consider multilateral action in confronting the menace of terrorism by replicating the Aqaba arrangement, which Jordan has with East African countries battling protracted terrorist menace.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/UYT/GABON 2017

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