- Africa Union (AU) is set to release the 70 million US dollars contributed by partners to combat terrorism and all forms of extremism on the continent.
- The Commissioner for Peace and Security, Mr Chergui Smail, yesterday made this remark at a press briefing to mark the closing ceremony of the three-day Retreat on Security Cooperation between the AU’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Abuja.
- Smail assured that the AU stands with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism, said the organisation has begun a programme to help prevent radicalisation of people of the region.
“We have funds that we mobilised from the partners which is almost 70 million US dollars which will be put in place very soon. Just before coming here, I made sure that the contribution of European Union which is 50 million dollars will be ready very soon. So, this is to say that really we are with Nigeria and we are overwhelmed by the determination of each country’s security and army to deal with this matter and to really prevent the killings of innocent people or pushing people to be IDPs in their own country.
I can also tell you that we are looking also to prevent more radicalisation of people. So, we have a programme working on that and we have a programme also on deradicalisation which will work with the whole region on this issue. And we are coordinating and helping also so that the insurgency can be stopped,” he said.
- He noted that dealing with terrorism has become the first priority of the present government, commended President Muhammadu Buhari on his determination to stamp out insurgency in the country.
