SAN FRANCISCO, September 24, (THEWILL) – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, on Tuesday demanded for closer working relationship between Nigeria and the United States in fighting terrorism.
Tambuwal made this call when he received a United States delegation led by the Chairman of the Sub-committee on Africa, Global Health, Human Rights and International Organisation, Congress man Christopher Smith. He said Nigeria was still grappling with this “new phenomenon”, though response has been swift and mighty.
Speaking on terrorism, he said “On the issue of terrorism we have taken extreme measures by declaring State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, gains have been made, save for recent happenings which further demonstrates that insurgency is not an issue that can be dealt with once.
“Besides this is a new phenomenon here in Nigeria, we are looking forward to your help in that regard.”
While conveying the United States (US) Speaker, Rep. John Boehner’s goodwill message to his Nigerian counterpart, Smith expressed that the US has always been a willing collaborator in fighting terrorism, trafficking in persons and modern day slavery in Nigeria.
“We have worked closely with your committee on Human Rights and have received them at the Capitol Hill, and we are here with you to discuss areas of mutual cooperation to confront security challenges and modern slavery,” Smith said.
The delegation thanked the speaker and expressed readiness of the US congress to collaborate with the Nigerian parliament in areas of security and human trafficking.
By Saint Mugaga, Abuja
