President Muhammadu Buhari says armed guards recruited by late Libyan President, Muammar Gadaffi are responsible for insecurity in the Sahel.
He made the statement on Thursday in Abuja while receiving in farewell audience the 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.
Buhari who observed that 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, warned that illegal arms and ammunition will continue to flow in the Sahel region as long as Libya remains unstable.
A statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), quoted President Buhari as saying: “They didn’t learn any other skill than to shoot and kill. So, they are a problem all over the Sahel countries today.”
He added: “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.”
While describing Chambas, who spent many years in Nigeria in different capacities, from ECOWAS to UN, as “more of a Nigerian than anything else,” President Buhari wished him well in his future endeavours.
The outgoing Special Representative thanked the president “for personal support I received from you (Buhari), and from Nigeria as a country,” adding that the country would continue to play a leadership role on the continent.
On terrorism and violent extremism in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin area, Chambas said Nigeria was playing a yeoman’s role, particularly in giving support to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
