Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has stressed the need for African countries to team up and fight their common enemies, insisting that no country could fight terrorism alone.
“We need to team up to fight common enemies. Terrorists in whatever form are enemies of humanity, and no effort must be spared to protect our people.
“I will always support anything that is meant to enhance security in our region,” he said while receiving ECOWAS Chairman and President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, in Katsina, on Friday.
President Buhari, who welcomed the proposal for a security summit between members of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and countries in Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), emphasised that terrorism now transcended international boundaries and no country could combat the scourge alone.
The security summit is billed to hold on July 30, this year.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, President Gnassingbe said he was happy to be in Katsina, the homestead of President Buhari and thanked him for his help in calming the political tension in Togo.
President Gnassingbe also briefed Presidednt Buhari on Mali elections, billed for next month, saying ECOWAS would ensure that everything went smoothly.
Answering a question on what the sub-regional body could do to help Nigeria with the problem of clashes between cattle herders and farmers, the ECOWAS Chairman said the problem was not peculiar to Nigeria, but common to a number of countries, including Togo.
Accorfding to the Togolese leader, “It is not a religious or ethnic problem and must not be misconceived as such. We will discuss the matter and try to find a solution,” he said.
President Gnassingbe also condoled President Buhari on the fire disaster caused by a fallen petrol tanker, in Lagos, on Thursday.