“We Need Continuous Collaboration On Trans-border Security Concerns”

What is your appraisal of the just-ended 8th session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Trans-border Security Committee in Abuja?
The events of the past few years have once more demonstrated the strong brotherly bond and fraternity between our two countries. I am particularly grateful that after robust and strong engagement, we have reached consensus on several pending issues on security challenges facing our two countries. The active involvement of the delegates in various sessions and personal experiences clearly enriched the quality of the session. Furthermore, the broad representative of delegates is an eloquent testimony of the interest both countries share on this all-important bilateral forum. 

Where are we going to from here?
It was also reassuring to observe that new areas of cooperation were identified as well as the need to strengthen existing engagements for mutual security benefits. While we continue to address security concerns across the common borders which include a host of transnational organised crimes particularly terrorism and secessionist activities, it is necessary to intensify our efforts on confidence-building measures for the border communities. This can only be achieved by providing facilities to ensure their socio-economic wellbeing. This is the sure way of preventing border communities from being exploited into criminality. Meanwhile, in order to get the best results of our bilateral engagement, we must ensure the effective implementation of the resolutions that have been reached at this meeting. Permit me stress the importance of intelligence sharing and the need for continuous collaborative measures to curtail trans-border security concerns. The outc...