Ebun Francis || President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said he is uncomfortable with the relationship that exists the Nigeria terror group Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS.
President Buhari, who is currently on a state visit to Turkey, made the comment at a joint press conference with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to the President, said the President Buhari, however, expressed satisfaction with his administration’s effort to contain the insurgency.
The President was quoted to have said, “We were very surprised and disturbed by the claim made by Boko Haram on what they have been getting from ISIS.”
“We know we will be able to contain them and we have proven that we can do it.
“We are very pleased that Turkey is in a position to assist us and has been strengthening our educational and health institutions.”
“We are very pleased with the progress of the meeting so far and we are going to wait for the details of meetings between the two countries,” he said.
“We will as a result of the meeting between the ministers and officials of both countries strengthen rapidly whatever their recommendations are.”
According to President Buhari, the improved security situation in the north-east was an eloquent testimony to the efforts of his administration in combating terrorism since he came into office in May 2015
The President also said the two leaders also discussed the prospects of increasing their bilateral trade, which has exceeded $779m in the first eight months of 2017.
“There are a lot of potentialities in terms of investments and a lot is being done in the educational and health sectors in Nigeria,” he said.
“These will be strengthened and I assure you that Nigeria is prepared to accept Turkish business people to come and explore more of Nigeria’s potentialities.”
The Turkish President on his part noted that Nigeria had great potentials and remains “a global actor in terms of economy, demographics and its peacekeeping records.”