The United States Government has
reacted to the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram.
The world power noted that there
still remained enormous challenges in Nigeria which would require the attention
of the United Nations and other international players.
This is part of remarks by the
American Deputy Secretary of State, John Sullivan, during the International
Advisory Council’s closing luncheon held at the United States Institute of
Peace in Washington.
His words: “It’s a
whole-of-government effort. It sounds trite to say, but it’s certainly true. We
work closely with our colleagues at the Department of Defence, USAID, and the
State Department. I was in Abuja, Nigeria a few months ago, and the challenges are
enormous.
“The threat from Boko Haram and
ISIS West Africa, particularly in north-western Nigeria, is very serious, as
we’ve seen just in the last few weeks with the kidnapping of another 110
schoolgirls, most of who have been released, but only on the condition that
they not are allowed to go back to school, which is astounding on its face. But
we’re thankful that at least most of those young girls have been released. But
we’ve got to address the security situation.
“But there are deeper problems –
economic and social – that require not just U.S. Government’s assistance but
assistance from a wide array of private organisations, other countries, and the
United Nations. So that’s what we’re looking to mobilise to address the causes
of the refugee flows out of that area and prevent these crises from
developing,” the American diplomat stated.
Sullivan added that the problems
of illegal migration and terrorism facing Nigeria and few other African
countries would require more efforts and global cooperation to solve.
He disclosed that the US would
work more closely with the G5 countries and national governments to tackle the
issues.
“Looking at what we do in the
U.S. Government, I’d focus, for example, on Africa, particularly in countries
like Nigeria, the countries in the Sahel and Northern Africa, the tragic scenes
that we have seen of refugees and migrants leaving Libya, Tunisia, Algeria for
southern Europe.
“And those people are coming from
countries farther south in Africa, where there is conflict, poverty, et cetera.
So we’ve got to have – from the U.S. Government’s perspective, it requires an
integrated strategy with our colleagues at the Department of Defence to partner
host governments.
“For example, the countries in
the Sahel, the so-called G5 – working with them to address the terrorism
problems that are presented in the region, to establish a baseline of security
so that humanitarian assistance, development assistance can flow into the
region, and remove the causes of people who are fleeing those countries,
risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to get to hope for a better
future in Europe.”
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