Nigeria and Kenya to Collaborate Against Terrorism

Posted by admin Headlines Saturday, May 18th, 2013

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Friday at State House, told
Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister and Special Envoy of President
Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr. William Ruto, that Nigeria was concerned
about the activities of terrorists in Somalia and other places in
Africa, and the attendant negative effects on peace and
development in the continent.

‘I have just declared a state of emergency in three states in our
country, to check the havoc of terrorists’, he stated, ‘so I can
appreciate the issues confronting Somalia and Kenya’.

President Jonathan said Africa needs to find a collective solution to
the problem of Somalia, and suggested a meeting of leaders on
the sidelines of the African Union 50th Anniversary Summit,
scheduled to hold next week.

On the bilateral level, President Jonathan told the Kenyan Deputy
Prime Minister that Nigeria and Kenya had a lot to gain from
stronger mutual relations, and assured him of necessary
cooperation in this regard.

Earlier, Mr. William Ruto, Deputy Prime Minister and Special Envoy,
told President Jonathan that President Kenyatta requested Nigeria’
s intervention to help find and African solution to the Somalia
problem which had spilled into Kenya.

‘Nigeria plays a leadership role in Africa, and Kenya needs you to
join other leaders for a framework to help resolve the Somalia
problem’, he said, adding that President Jonathan’s personal
intervention would help.

Mr. Ruto also spoke about improving relations through extending
Kenya Airways flights to Abuja, as well as Kenya’s commitment to
enhancing intra-African trade.wp_posts