The 28th African Union Summit has commended Nigeria’s role in the fight against terrorism in West Africa and the continent as a whole.
Smail Chergui, who was re-elected as AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, made the commendation in Addis Ababa and said that Nigeria was the only country that had given the biggest support to the fight against insurgence in Africa.
Chergui, appealed for international assistance to enable Nigeria and other countries affected by terrorism to adjust accordingly in fighting the spread of the terror menace.
He also said that AU had approved a Special Fund to combat terrorism, with a renewed focus on eradicating the scourge of terror attacks by Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
The Commissioner said the Summit approved the new Special Fund, with a focus on handling the radicalization of the youth.
“The report on the creation of the Special Fund has been adopted. We are going to start working on how to establish and administer the Fund.
“A ministerial meeting of the African ministers in charge of justice will be held in April to start working on its modalities of operationalization,” he said.
He said the fight against terrorism has been on the agenda of the Summit for the past few years.
He said the Summit had dedicated its discussions to the relations between the AU and the UN in handling the peace and security issues affecting the continent.
He said that the Summit approved a new round of political mediation in South Sudan and asked its chief political mediators to engage with President Salva Kiir’s government to re-launch the peace talks.
Chergui said a task force formed by the AU to fight the LRA was successful in the arrest of senior commanders of the group.
“We have made enormous progress in arresting commanders of LRA. The next form of action would be mapped out soon.
“On Libya, the AU Summit appealed to the government there to reassess its presidential council and engage in a process of reconstituting it with a view to forming an inclusive government ,” Chergui said. (NAN)
