Cameroon And Nigeria Pledge To Combat Terrorism
Nigeria has promised to assist Cameroon with combating the on-going separatist crisis rocking the central Africa'n country’s English speaking region.
The pledge, made during a security meeting has been described by Cameroon authorities as reassuring, following accusations that separatist fighters in Cameroon were bring trained in Nigeria and that weapons they were using had been brought into the country via Nigeria.
Brigadier General Emmanuel Adamu Ndagi, leader of the Nigerian delegation to the Cameroon-Nigeria transborder security meeting that ended in Yaounde Saturday, said his country has been seriously affected by the separatist crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
Ndagi stressed that the closure of parts of the border had led to a sharp decline in food imports, like sorghum, rice and onions, to Nigeria on one hand, while basic commodities exported from Nigeria, like fuel, are hard to get into Cameroon. Ndagi says because of the security, economic and humanitarian threats caused by the separatist war, Nigeria will support Cameroon in bringing peace to its troubled regions.
"The current political upheavals in that region will not be allowed to affect our cordial relations," said Ndagi. "We will continue to support your efforts to bring lasting peace to the region. This will facilitate the return of Cameroonian refugees that have crossed the border into Nigerian territory. We must reduce vulnerabilities along our borders that are being exploited to perpetrate transnational organized crime notably terrorism, proliferation of small arms and light weapons as well as piracy."
Although the two sides have not disclosed details of how their cooperation will be carried out, they have both agreed to take further measures to boost multifaceted cooperation in the fight against terrorism along their shared border. The two country’s will share information regularly in order to stop terrorist activities including Boko Haram attacks and separatist fighting for the independence of an English speaking state in Cameroon.
