Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a reception held to welcome home the 2019/2020 UK Chevening Scholarship beneficiaries. British High Commissioner to Nigeria,Catriona Laing said the UK government has been helping the Nigerian military in training, campaign planning, and how to counter IEDs.
“Well, we are here to support and help. We have the military team here, who came here after the Chibok girls were kidnapped actually. We are still here, training the Nigerian military, helping them to do campaign planning, how to counter IEDs,” “We are extremely concerned about the deteriorating security situation. “I mean, Nigeria is facing a lot of problems everywhere – in the Northeast, terrorism; in the Northwest, banditry, kidnapping; in the Middle Belt, the farmers-herders conflict; in the South, the Niger Delta conflict everywhere. “And the secession movements in the Southeast.
So, Nigeria is really struggling”.
Laing said. She further said the recent visit of the UK’s Minister of Armed Forces, during which he interacted with the Nigerian Government at the highest level, including the Service Chiefs, also showed the commitment of the UK govt. Laing, however, urged the Nigerian government to be a bit more precise about the support they needed from the UK and what the UK can offer.
“So, we are here for a long time. This is a Nigerian partnership. Your insecurity becomes our insecurity if we don’t help you tackle it. So, we are here and we are trying to do our best to support you,” the envoy said.
