The Federal Government has called for stronger cooperation among the Lake Chad Basin countries, to ultimately defeat terrorism and fast track the resettlement of displaced people in the region.
The Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the Lake Chad Basin Regional Protection Dialogue.
He noted that the success so far recorded in the Northeast could be attributed to regional cooperation while stressing the need for sustained security architecture in the liberated communities.
He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had embarked on a tour of the Lake Chad Basin countries last year, with a view to bringing peace and stability to the region.
The minister decried the fact that there are about 1.8 million IDPs in the country, while another 155, 000 live as refugees in Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
He said Nigeria would continue to maintain zero tolerance for terrorism while working with the Lake Chad countries to uproot the menace of terrorism and return economic stability to the region.
Dambazau expressed optimism that the Regional Protection Dialogue would go a long way in addressing the security, humanitarian and economic challenges occasioned by crisis in the region.
He pledged Nigeria’s readiness to lead in the formation and implementation of a comprehensive action plan to address the protection and humanitarian challenges in the region.