UNITED States Congressman Riley Moore has said his country and Nigeria were nearing a significant milestone in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, with an agreement on a strategic security framework being finalised.
In a post on X yesterday, Moore said the proposed framework would focus on combating extremist groups operating in the North-East and Middle Belt regions of the country and ending the “genocide against Christians.”
His comments followed a fact-finding mission to Nigeria, where he witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of violent extremism on the civilian population in Benue and Plateau states.
Moore, who led a delegation of US Congressmen on the fact-finding mission, met with the Nigerian government officials, including the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi.
He also met with some religious and traditional leaders in Benue and Plateau states as well as the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia.
Expressing optimism about the progress made in their discussion with the Nigerian authorities, Moore said: “We did have positive conversations with the Nigerian government, and I believe we are close to a strategic security framework to address both the ISIS and Boko Haram threat in the Northeast, as well as the genocide against Christians by the radical Fulani Muslims in the Middle Belt.”
He stressed that the report he would subsequently present to President Donald Trump from the fact-finding mission would outline paths to ending the violent extremism and killing of Christians. “The report that I will present @POTUS will outline paths to work with the Nigerian government to end the slaughter of our brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said.
He reinforced the horrific account of some of the victims he met during the visit, saying, “What I witnessed during my trip to Nigeria was heart breaking.
“I met a woman who witnessed all five of her children murdered in front of her.
“Another woman lost her husband and two daughters and had her unborn child killed.”
Recall that the Nigerian government had initiated dialogue with its US counterpart after Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over Christian killing and threatened to take military action against the Fulani extremists should the government fail to do something to end their activities.
Subsequently, a government delegation led by Ribadu visited the US to present government’s position on the terrorists activities.
The Federal Government has since taken other actions, including declaring a state of emergency on insecurity, establishing a US-Nigeria Joint Working Group on Secunity and appointing Gen. Christopher Musa as the Minister of Defence, among other measures to address insecurity.
Source: Vanguard
