Nigeria ‘ll strengthen ties with UK to combat insecurity – Badaru

Muhammed Badaru, minister of defence, says Nigeria will strengthen her bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom (UK) to combat insecurity.

Badaru said this when a UK delegation led by James Heappey, the minister for armed forces and veterans, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

This was contained in a statement on Thursday in Abuja by Victoria Agba-Attah, director of press and public relations of the ministry.

Badaru said that Britain had been supportive in ensuring the safety of Nigerian waterways, adding that security was a dynamic issue which had its own challenges.

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He added that the Nigerian military and British military have to work together to combat the Boko Haram threat, and stressed that the West needed to give more support to Nigeria, just as it gave to other nations.

Also speaking, Bello Matawalle, the minister of state for defence, said that Nigeria and the UK have had a good bilateral relationship.

Matawalle reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to ending insurgency and banditry in the country.

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He added that both countries needed to work closely in areas of capacity building, training of military personnel, technology transfer as well as the provision of modern equipment to fight Boko Haram.

Earlier, Ibrahim Kana, the permanent secretary in the ministry, said that Britain topped the list of Nigeria’s international friends, adding that Nigeria cherishes the relationship between the two countries.

Heappey, earlier in his remarks, said that the purpose of their visit was to adjust and expand their support to the Armed Forces of Nigeria based on the needs and perception of the changing threats.