Nigeria’s National Security
Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Monguno has said no territory of Nigeria would be used
as a staging ground to destabilize Cameroon.
He said this on Monday in Abuja
during the opening ceremony of the 6th Session of The Cameroon/Nigeria
Trans-Border Security Committee.
Monguno said: “There should be no
doubt whatsoever, of Nigeria’s support for the unity, sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Cameroon.”
“We encourage the Cameroonian
authorities to engage all aggrieved parties in a constructive manner to
de-escalate tensions in Anglophone regions.”
Monguno also charged the Cameroon
authorities to facilitate the return of Cameroonian refugees that have crossed
the border into Nigerian territory due to heightened tension and apprehension.
The NSA noted that Nigeria as a
signatory of most of the United Nation’s International protocols on the Rights
of Refugees and their humane treatment would enforce these provisions.
He said the meeting is expected
to examine trans-border security issues and build on successes recorded so far
in the actualization of peace and security along the borders.
Monguno was apparently referring
to the recent deportation of a key Cameroonian separatist leader, Julius Ayuk
Tabe and 46 others, arrested in Abuja by Nigerian authorities in January.
Ayuk is the president of a
self-declared breakaway state made up of the Anglophone regions of
majority-Francophone Cameroon.
He was one of fifteen others who
Cameroon issued an international arrest warrant for in November 2017.
His deportation marks an
escalation in Cameroon’s fight against the separatists who have taken up arms
over the past year in their bid to create a nation which they call Ambazonia.
The Ambazonian movement has
gathered widespread support due to a government crackdown on peaceful protests
by Anglophones who complain of being marginalised by the French majority.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com