Before now, terrorism was commonly heard of in the middle-east, but the evil menace seemed to have gained places in Africa, and more pronounced in North and West African countries though East African countries like Kenya, Tanzania suffered some terror attacks recently.

The spread of Islamic terrorists in Mali, Nigeria, Niger and other West African Countries and its sub-regional neighbours like Cameroon, Chad and some other countries, has caused sleepless night to the leaders of these countries.

In search of solution to this ugly menace ravaging West African nations, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa, Mr. Said Djinnit, who visited Nigeria , urged the West African Nations to join forces together to tackle terrorism in the sub-regions.

Mr. Said who is also the chairman, Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, stated this on his visit to Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada at her office in Abuja. He said the visit was to see how he could work closely with the ECOWAS and the leaders of the countries in the sub-region on how to join efforts to overcome the security challenges in the sub-region and create conditions for lasting peace.

 ‘’The threat of extremism or terrorism is affecting all our countries in West Africa and Africa in general so there is need for a general effort. This should be a national effort, though Nigeria is putting its own effort but we need to mobilise the entire region to work together to address the root cause of the problem.” Djinnit said.

He urged these West African countries to address the concern and challenge in coordinated manner within the framework of the existing plan of action with ECOWAS, African Union (AU) and the UN.

Furthermore, Mr. Djinnit stated that Nigeria was faced with a big challenge and it was the responsibility of the state to ensure the safety of the citizens of the country.

He said that this should be done by taking into account the issue of human rights, adding that he was sure the government is aware of that. He commended Nigeria for the role it had been playing in the Gulf of Guinea in the fight against piracy.

Mr Djinnit, also said he was aware that there were agreements and security arrangements between Nigeria and Cameroon. ‘’I encourage both countries to work closely in addressing security threats at their common borders, especially in the context of the growing pressure put by the extremist and terrorist groups in the border Sahad region, which has affected Nigeria and other countries,’’ he said.