United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Thursday said her country was prepared to help Nigeria fight the Boko Haram insurgency in parts of the North.
Clinton made the offer at a closed door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, Abuja.
Dressed in black pants and a red top, Clinton arrived State House, Abuja accompanied by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gbenga Ashiru.
She arrived under tight security at 3.50p.m in a car marked 140 CMD.
She was immediately ushered into Jonathan’s office for the meeting.
Thereafter, she moved to an expanded 50-minute meeting with the National Security Council, comprising Jonathan (chairman), Vice-President Namadi Sambo (deputy chairman); Chief of Defence Staff; Minister of Interior; Minister of Defence; Minister of Foreign Affairs; National Security Adviser; Inspector-General of Police; and Director-General of the State Security Service.
The meeting discussed the rising security threats in Nigeria; the controversy over calls on Washington to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group as well as Abuja’s reluctance to endorse the appeals; piracy in the Gulf of Guinea; and cooperation between Nigeria and the U.S on security.
During the meeting, she reportedly told her audience that her country was ready to help with forensics, tracking of suspects and “fusing” disparate strands of police and military intelligence.
She also urged the Nigerian government to create an “intelligence fusion cell,” to combine information from the military, spy services, police and other federal, state and local agencies, in combating the growing extremist violence in the country.
After the meeting, the security chiefs and the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), left at 6.10p.m while Clinton left at 6.15p.m for the residence of the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence McCulley.
She was scheduled to hold a meeting with Nigerian anti-corruption activists at the ambassador’s residence and depart for the U.S Embassy for a meeting with diplomatic staff.
She thereafter left for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and departed Abuja for Accra for a meeting with President John Mahama.
She will spend the night in Accra and attend the funeral of late Ghana President John Atta Mills on Friday.
Ahead of her arrival in Abuja, a senior U.S official on Clinton’s delegation told Reuters that she would proffer ideas on how to put down the Boko Haram insurgency.
He said, “We know all too well from our own experiences in both Iraq and Afghanistan what can happen if soldiers and police are not operating under appropriate authorities.
“We will encourage them not to use excessive force and to look at this as a law enforcement operation designed to catch perpetrators and bring them to justice.”
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