Nigeria and Chad presidents meet over Boko Haram

The need for Nigeria and her neighbours to intensify joint actions and cooperation to win the war against terrorism and insurgency was reiterated at the meeting.

While Speaking with  journalists at the presidential palace in N’Djamena, after the closed-door meeting with his Chadian President,   Idris Deby, President Jonathan, said that their talks focused mainly on security and economic cooperation, stressing further that the present state of things in the country shouldn’t be ignored for any other thing.

He admitted the fact that Boko Haram, had a lot of external influences from outside Africa, and it had become even more imperative for all countries in the region to work together to overcome terrorism and other criminal activities across their borders for the safety of all.

“If you look at the economies of Nigeria and Chad, both are linked,” he said. “The Boko Haram people don’t ask permission to move from Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria, these countries had so much in common and should equally work to achieve something greater in ensuring that normalcy resurfaced back in the country.

“If the countries do not cooperate, we will not find it easy to win the war, because when the heat is strong in one country, the criminals and terrorists will go to  another one and hide. So we must work together and we are discussing along that line.”

The embattled president, recalled that his visit to Chad was the second in the last one month, all because of building strong relationship and robust understandings between the two countries, mostly how to improve trades and build more security ties.

He also said that the discussions between both countries on cooperation in the ICT sector were ongoing and expressed optimism that more proficient use of modern technology will help greatly to address economic and security challenges in the region.

President Jonathan, who was accompanied on the one-day official visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali and the Director-General, the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ayodele Oke,  both have since returned to Abuja.