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Charge d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Nigeria, David Greene stated that both Nigeria and the US are working closely as partners to strengthen security and ensure stability in West Africa.
He described Nigeria as a strategic partner to the US given its top position as a regional power in Africa. Security is something the US partners with lots of countries. Nigeria is a strategic partner because of its weight in the African region and the challenges in the Sahel and West Africa.
This is in terms of dealing with violent extremism and stability. More broadly, Nigeria has been a key partner. Some of such cooperation involves the systems that the US provides to it for it to be able to protect its coastal waters and to carry out its counter-terrorism measures.
Some of that involves the equipment that Nigeria buys from the US. The Nigerian government bought a dozen A-29 supercanon planes two years ago. It is a precision munition that allows them to tackle terrorism problems. The US not only works with the military, it works with civilian security services very effectively in addressing illegal drug issues, he further stated. He added that the US is providing support to Nigeria in furtherance of its police reform and capacity building aimed at delivering justice transparently. And also, on a programme to reduce the number of individuals that are in pre-trial detention looking at the rights of those individuals in prisons and correctional facilities in Nigeria.
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The US has a vast array of programs that are attempting to support the Nigerian government’s goals in terms of enhancing the security and quality of life of individual Nigerian citizens. And US is aware of the challenges that Nigeria faces, in terms of its security, and also the strength of the systems that should allow for the continued improvement in the situation. This is a partnership that both are proud of and one that we will continue, he added.
