UN pledges support for Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts

Mohammed Chambas, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa, has pledged the organisation’s support for on-going counter-terrorism campaign in Nigeria.

The pledge was disclosed in a statement issued by Way Olabisi, a lieutenant commander, on behalf of the Director, Defence Information in Abuja on Friday.

Mr. Olabisi said Mr. Chambas, who is also the Special Envoy of the UN to Nigeria, made the pledge when he visited the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, an Air Chief Marshal in Abuja.

He quoted the envoy as saying that the UN would be ready to give Nigeria all the needed support to counter terrorism.

Mr. Chambas also advocated collaboration between Nigeria and its neighbours in the efforts to defeat terrorism.

Mr. Badeh thanked the special representative of the UN secretary-general and said that Nigeria would welcome any assistance that could help it in the prosecution of the fight against Boko Haram.

He assured the envoy that the armed forces would continue to adhere strictly to the rules of engagement and observance of human rights in prosecuting the war against terror.

Mr. Badeh used the occasion to reassure the UN that the military would work for the peaceful conduct of the forthcoming general elections in the country.

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters said its website was hacked into on Friday but added that the hacker could not infiltrate its database.

A statement issued by the defence spokesman, Chris Olukolade, a major general, said the site was “defaced at the front end.”

“One Ima Sadiq who posed as the hacker has been knocked off and normal activities on the channel have resumed,” Mr. Olukolade said. “Apparently, the blog site was targeted because of its role as a major channel for disseminating information on military and security activities in the nation’s counter-terrorism campaign.”

(NAN)