The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria, Yusuf Tuggar on Monday revealed that over 40 million arms in Nigeria and Africa as a continent are controlled by terrorists.
Tuggar while giving his speech at the African Counter-Terrorism meeting in Abuja also said the stakes could be higher as Africa is faced with unprecedented threats and forces that seek to destroy the institution that facilitates development and stability.
THE WHISTLER earlier reported that a two-day high-level summit is being held under the theme ‘Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Institution Building to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism.”
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Recall that the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres had said despair, poverty, hunger, lack of basic services, unemployment and unconstitutional changes in government lay fertile ground for the expansion of terrorist groups and the flow of fighters, funds and weapons.
Gutteres had said, “No age, no culture, no religion, no nationality and no region are immune to terrorism” in Africa.
Lauding the UN, Tuggar at the meeting said, “We’re fighting networks that know no boundaries or borders. Where bombers and gunmen in one part of the world are financed from another, equipped from another still, and picked targets without discrimination in rich countries and poor.
“The stakes could not be higher, our values, our freedoms, our hopes and aspirations face unprecedented threat. Some forces seek to destroy the institutions that facilitate stability, development, and progress.
“For many years, we have pushed for greater cooperation to counter terrorism and tackle the proliferation of unregistered and untraceable small arms. There are 40 million small arms and light weapons under the control of non-state actors in Africa.
“Violent extremism is the scourge of our modern times, radical groups use force and fear in an attempt to impose their interests, today the challenge of confronting terrorism is different in scale and design”.
He decried that despite the investment in resources, and platforms to stem the spread of violent extremism in Africa, the continent still finds itself on the front line of everyone’s war, a war Tuggar said is to defend civilised values, decency and liberty.
According to him, “Social media, spread of fake news and incendiary hate speech, including through generative adversarial networks, encrypted communications and unregulated financial transfers using cryptocurrency are some new tools that regulators and states have been slow to arrest to prevent exploitation by terror groups”.
Tuggar called for the urgent need to understand the particular threat Africa faces and to consider the underlying causes as well as the symptoms.
“This is a daunting canvas and includes the pressures created by climate change and financial and trading systems that marginalize capacity for growth and opportunity. We have the opportunity to come together as partners to defend our common values and the hopes and aspirations of our people from those who seek destruction and chaos” he urged.
Also speaking at the event, the National Security Adviser, Mr Nuhu Ribadu said Nigeria has resumed the prosecution of Boko Haram terrorists.
In attendance, are President Bola Tinubu, Heads of state and government and high-level government officials across Africa, representatives of international organizations and multilateral institutions, members of the diplomatic corps, and members of civil society groups.