President Muhammadu Buhari and French President Francois Hollande has signed a letter of intent that would further agreements in defence matters.
Speaking at a joint press conference with President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2nd Regional Security Summit in Abuja weekend, Hollande said though the results of the fight against Boko Haram are impressive, the sect remains a threat.
The French leader said terrorism was feeding on the weaknesses of the global financial system, adding that to combat terrorism, the global community had to fight corruption, dwindling economy as well as tax havens.
“And this has indeed an impact on the terrorist groups and their ability to finance arms trafficking as well as terror attacks. Are we doing enough? We’ve achieved major progress already, but this is not the end. So, we’ll continue to fight against all systems that enable all forms of trafficking.”
He commended President Buhari for the impressive results in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents.
While responding to questions from journalists President Buhari said said all the territories hitherto captured by Boko Haram had been liberated.
“When we came in, they were controlling 14 local governments where the hoisted a flag and declared it a republic or a kind of caliphate of some sort. But now, they’re not holding any local government. They’re exploiting available technology in terms of using improvised explosive device on soft targets–in mosques, churches, markets and motor parks,” he said.
“On the internally displaced persons, more than 60 percent of them are women and children, and more than 60 percent of the children are orphans. This is a pathetic situation and is a major problem we’re going to face in this country.”
