Pulse.Assent

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

“Prime Minister Theresa May met President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in Abuja today during her three-day visit to Africa.

“The leaders agreed that the UK and Nigeria are strong partners bilaterally and in the Commonwealth, and that our mutual security and prosperity is strengthened by our close cooperation.

“The leaders agreed to build on our growing commercial ties, including through a new Economic Development Forum to help us identify and overcome barriers to trade and investment.

“The PM talked about how the UK will step up investment into Nigeria as part of its ambition to be the G7’s number one investor in Africa by 2022, including through CDC.

“The Prime Minister welcomed the progress towards securing a significant investment into oil and gas in Bonga South West, and reiterated the importance of the President’s continued leadership in securing the final agreement.

“Nigeria’s stability matters to the UK, and the work we’re doing together to tackle shared threats helps to keep our people safe. Today the leaders witnessed the signing of the first UK-Nigeria security and defence partnership which will formalise and expand this cooperation.

“They also discussed the importance of human rights and the need to ensure our joint work on security is in line with international standards.

“The Prime Minister welcomed Nigeria’s efforts at a national and regional level to combat illegal migration and human trafficking, and their support for the Call to Action to end modern slavery which was launched by the PM at UNGA last year.

“She thanked President Buhari for championing this agenda, including through his chairing of the Economic Community of West African States and his commitment to use Nigeria’s influence to promote African leadership on these issues.

“Finally, the leaders discussed Nigeria’s forthcoming elections and agreed they must be fair, credible and peaceful, and free from interference.

“The Prime Minister and President agreed to continue working in partnership to ensure our bilateral relationship and regional cooperation go from strength to strength in the years ahead.”

The first ever UK-Nigeria security and defence partnership will transform the way we work together to tackle shared threats and keep our people safe, Theresa May said today.

The new Partnership will lay the foundations for us to step up efforts to promote our shared stability, prosperity and growth, through a series of new initiatives to help Nigeria defeat Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa.

The terror groups are responsible for the deaths of over 20,000 people, with almost 2 million still forced to live away from their homes in the north east of the country.

Today’s agreement will help stop this regional menace from spreading and posing a direct threat to the UK.

Under the new partnership the UK will expand its provision of equipment and training for the Nigerian military to help them protect themselves from the threat of improvised explosive devices used by terrorists. This will save soldiers’ lives and better equip them to combat Boko Haram’s insurgency-style tactics.

The UK has also offered to help Nigeria – for the first time – train full army units before they deploy to the North East. Currently, soldiers are trained individually – not in their fighting teams. Training full units will give Nigerian forces a shared understanding and experience that will make them better able to defeat the enemy.

This will build on the UK’s work to help Nigeria train more than 30,000 troops since 2015.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

No-one should live in fear of being targeted by militants or forced from their homes, and no child should lose out on an education because of the threat of terror.

Insecurity, violence and extremism destabilise countries and regions and undermine growth – holding back entire generations from reaching their potential.

It is only when people are safe and communities stable that nations have the opportunity to thrive.

We are determined to work side by side with Nigeria to help them fight terrorism, reduce conflict, and lay the foundations for the future stability and prosperity that will benefit us all.

Through the new partnership – signed in Abuja today – the UK and Nigeria will also work together to:

• deliver a new £13 million programme to educate 100,000 children living in the conflict zone whose teachers have fled and schools been destroyed, by providing equipment, teacher training, and safe places to learn; and
• implement a new Nigerian crisis response mechanism, similar to the UK’s COBR system, to help the government respond to incidents like terror attacks so it can protect its citizens and British nationals and businesses in the country; and
• cut the number of new recruits joining Boko Haram by tackling the lies and false information spread by the group to attract new members – including by working with communities to push out counter-narratives and drawing on the UK’s experience of countering terrorist propaganda at home and as part of the global campaign against Daesh.

Beyond terrorism, the agreement sets out how we will work together to strengthen policing, reduce piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, tackle organised crime – including kidnapping and trafficking, and stamp out corruption. A new civil asset recovery task force will help Nigeria recover stolen assets held in Britain and stop criminals using the UK as a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.

To enable this closer partnership on security and defence, we have agreed to establish an enhanced human rights dialogue to ensure our joint work is in line with international human rights standards.

The partnership will also create a regular forum for ministers on both sides to meet and discuss common challenges and priorities so we can make sure cooperation continues to evolve to tackle new and emerging security threats.