President Muhammadu Buhari has predicted that worsening insecurity bedeviling the nation will continue until Libya is stable.
Mr Buhari expressed this concern when he hosted outgoing Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohammed Ibn Chambas, on Thursday at State House, Abuja.
A statement from presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, quoted the president as saying the instability in the North African country will continue to affect Nigeria’s security due to illegal flows of arms and ammunition in the Sahel region of the African continent despite the closure of Nigeria land borders.
He said Muammar Gadaffi held a grip on power in Libya for 42 years by recruiting armed guards from different countries, who then escaped with their arms when the Libyan strongman was killed.
“They didn’t learn any other skill, than to shoot and kill. So, they are a problem all over the Sahel countries today,” Mr Buhari said. “We closed our land borders here for more than a year, but arms and ammunition continued to flow illegally. As far as Libya remains unstable, so will the problem remain.
“We have to cope with the problems of development, as we can’t play hop, step and jump. But we will eventually overcome those problems,” the president added.
The Nigerian leader described Mr. Chambas, who spent many years in Nigeria in different capacities, from ECOWAS to UN, as “more of a Nigerian than anything else.”
He wished him well in his future endeavours.
