Ribadu, IGP Meet at White House Over Reports of Attacks on Christians in Nigeria
Determined to correct global perception on security challenges confronting Nigeria for over a decade, the Federal Government has dispatched a delegation of senior government officials and security experts to the United States (US), to meet and educate President Donald Trump, his aides, and Riley Moore as well as other lawmakers on why the insurgency across the 19 northern states does not have religious colouration.
The members of the delegation, who were said to have left the country for the US, are expected to concentrate their engagement on convincing the Trump-led US government that the attacks were not singularly against Christians and to shelve any military action on Nigerian territory.
According to sources from the Villa, who spoke to The Guild correspondent, the delegation, which includes the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, would be seeking collaboration from the US government against the planned military action being considered by the Trump administration against the country.
As gathered on Wednesday, they left the country amid the abduction of the Kebbi schoolchildren, an attack which the US have described as a target on Christians even after the State Government insisted that the victims were all Muslims.
At the White House, the delegation would be speaking on the state of security in the country before the President Bola Tinubu-led administration assumed office and what the government had done to recapture communities previously under the control of the gunmen, including Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Also, the team is expected to furnish the US government with the number of gunmen that have been captured and rehabilitated, in compliance with the global standards.
Aside from that, another source from the Villa disclosed that the delegation would also be delving into what has been aiding banditry and other forms of insurgency in the north, which have made funds allocated annually to end the scourge fail to yield desired results.
The delegation’s visit to the White House came barely two weeks after the Presidency denied President Bola Tinubu’s proposed travel plans to the US for a meeting with his US counterpart, President Trump, over the issue, a development that did not go down well with Nigerians who considered the meeting as a valuable tool to stop the insurgency in the country.
While the alleged planned visit was put aside, the delegation’s visit would be the first meeting between the Nigerian government and the US after the Trump administration threatened to carry out attacks on Nigerian cities in response to purported anti-Christian violence in the West African nation.
It was learnt that the assistance rendered to the Federal Government during his first tenure and since his return to office prompted the decision Trump administration to consider the attacks reported across the country as an agenda against the Nigerian Christians.
The report was also confirmed by the Presidency, saying President Trump has assisted Nigeria a lot by authorising the sale of arms to Nigeria, and President Tinubu has adequately utilised the opportunity in the fight against terrorism, for which we have massive results to show for it.