Large UN delegation visits Nigeria to assess its counter-terrorism progress and capacity needs

BMUSONI — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 18:11:00 +0000

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Briefing by the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the visiting delegation.

On 13-16 October 2015, a delegation consisting of 11 UN agencies and international and regional organizations – led by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) – made a follow-up visit to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to assess the country’s latest counter-terrorism efforts and capacity needs.

Through local dialogue and engagement with Government representatives and civil society groups, the delegation learned about the current security situation, including the terrorism threat posed by Boko Haram to Nigeria and the region, despite recent military and law enforcement operations having degraded the terrorist organization’s capability. The delegation was also briefed about Boko Haram’s focus on soft targets, using improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Government informed the delegation of its focus on dismantling the terrorist group by the end of 2015 through continuous operations, including under the Multinational Joint Task Force.

At the end of its visit, the delegation welcomed important progress made by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in recent years, and identified areas in which the country could benefit from technical assistance provided by international partners.

Delegation members included representatives of CTED, the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), the 1267/1989 Security Council Committee Monitoring Team, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime’s Terrorism Prevention Branch (UNODC/TPB), the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), the World Bank, and the World Customs Organizations (WCO).

Nigeria is member of the Security Council and by extension also member of the Counter-Terrorism Committee until the end of 2015. To date, the Committee has made assessment visits to over 100 countries to monitor, promote, and facilitate States’ implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373, 1624 and, more recently, 2178.

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CTED and ECOWAS reaffirm counter-terrorism cooperation

BMUSONI — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 18:11:00 +0000

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Interaction between ECOWAS and UN delegation in Abuja.

A visiting multi-agency UN counter-terrorism delegation held talks with ECOWAS officials in Abuja on 12 October 2015 to exchange views on the current security situation in West Africa and identify areas of future cooperation.

The delegation included representatives of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) Office, the expert Monitoring Team of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999), the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC, UNOWA, ICAO, INTERPOL, IOM, and WCO.

Interaction between ECOWAS and UN delegation in Abuja.

ECOWAS, a regional partner of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and CTED in counter-terrorism issues, assists States of the region to implement United Nations resolutions on counter-terrorism, as well as the Security Council sanctions regime.

The two delegations exchanged views on matters of mutual interest, including combating Boko Haram, countering violent extremism, border control and immigration issues, weapons smuggling and other transnational organized crimes, the implementation of a regional counter-terrorism strategy, preventing misuse of the Internet and other communications technologies for terrorist purposes, and capacity-building.

The two delegations agreed on the need to provide Member States of the region with international support in their efforts to implement the relevant UN resolutions.

Front Page Article:

Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - Boko Haram

Large UN delegation visits Nigeria to assess its counter-terrorism progress and capacity needs

nigeria_visit_october_2015.jpg

CTED and ECOWAS reaffirm counter-terrorism cooperation

ecowas_abuja_october_2015.jpg