Jonathan Meets Chadian President Over Reported Links With Boko Haram — Nov 24, 2014 Barely 24 hours after he arrived Nigeria from London on Sunday, President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday paid an emergency visit to Chad where he held a closed door meeting with the country’s President, Idriss Deby. The president had last Thursday left the country from London where he presided over the meeting of Nigeria’s Honorary International Investment Council (HIIC). LEADERSHIP gathered that the visit may not be unconnected with reports in the media over the weekend that a close associate of the Chadian President, oine Mr Mahamat Bichara Gnoti was arrested in connection with the sponsorship of the Boko Haram sect. Gnoti was reported to have been apprehended on the Chadian-Sudan border with 19 SAM2 missiles, which he allegedly purchased from the Sudanese army for Boko Haram terrorists. A presidency source told our correspondent that President Jonathan who was shocked at the story “got set for Chad the next day after his arrival from London apparently to authenticate the veracity or otherwise of the said report. “You know that no president would want to take such a report lightly, especially as involved a fellow president he had always relied on in the region for cooperation to end the resign of terror on Nigerians. So, instead of resting after a hectic journey from London, he chose meet the Chadian president face to face to get to the root of the matter”, the source who preferred not to be named said. After the closed door, President Jonathan reiterated the need for Nigeria and her neighbours to intensify joint actions and cooperation to win the war against terrorism and insurgency. A statement by presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati noted that Jonathan who spoke to reporters at the Presidential Palace in N’Djamena after the closed-door meeting with President Deby Itno noted that their talks focused mainly on security and economic cooperation. The president, according to Abati, told reporters that Boko Haram had a lot of external influence 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. He quoted Jonathan as saying: “If you look at the economies of Nigeria and Chad both are linked. The Boko haram people don’t take permission to move from Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria. “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,” President Jonathan told reporters. He said Jonathan recalled that his visit to Chad was the second in the last one month, noting that it underscored the importance of building a “robust relationship” between both countries to improve trade, economic and security ties. He the president assured that 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 has returned to Abuja.” #So GEJ is still talking abt coperating with this country...
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 07:07:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015