The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has called for concerted efforts of stakeholders in combating transnational terrorism in the West African Sub-region.
The CDS said this while hosting the Inspector-General of the Senegalese Armed Forces (SAF), Major General El hadji Daouda Niang, in his office at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
In a signed statement by the Deputy Director Defence Information, Air Commodore Wap Maigida, the CDS stated that transnational nature of global insurgency and terrorism required collective efforts by armed forces to restrain the movement of criminal elements operating within the Sahel region and the Lake Chad Basin.
Gen Irabor further noted that the collaboration would significantly restore peace in the West African sub-region. He commended the SAF for playing a pivotal role in curtailing the trans-Sahelian movements of criminal elements in Mali.
He said Nigeria and Senegal could strengthen the existing diplomatic and defence collaboration by leveraging their Armed Forces operational and training experiences for greater effectiveness and efficiency.
On his part, the Inspector General of the Senegalese Armed Forces, Major General El hadji Daouda Niang said the purpose of the visit was to access the operational engagement of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN).
The Inspector-General expressed the commitment of the SAF to work closely with the Nigerian military for mutual benefits.
Maj Gen Niang, while showering encomium on the AFN for its past exploits in global and regional peace support operations, revealed that the collaboration between both armed forces would further strengthen their fight against insurgency, terrorism and other forms of insecurity bedeviling the West African sub-region.
The visiting Senegalese delegation, who arrived Nigeria on 26 June, 2021 on a working tour of military establishments and institutions across the country, had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Honourable Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (rtd) and the Service Chiefs.
