Security
THE National Coordinator, National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, says the Federal Government remains committed to addressing the root causes of violent extremism.
Laka said this at a Validation Workshop on the Country’s Needs Assessment, held for the NCTC and Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that the government had roled out policies and strategies to contain violent extremists in the society.
On the workshop, Laka said it was to fund the project on ‘Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE)’ designed to build resilience against terrorists and ensure safer communities.
According to him, the meeting will review previous findings, assessment of ongoing initiatives, potential investments in PCVE and other relevant issues.
“I also want to reiterate the FGN’s stance on counter-terrorism through policies and strategies aimed at addressing root causes from bottom up, as prioritised in the Policy Framework and Nation Action Plans for PCVE.
“The enactment of the TPPA 2022, the signing of the handover protocol on the of handling children associated with armed conflict in the country/LCB region, the development of the Nigeria Call for Action, among others.
“In like manner, the FGN’s granted NCTC-ONSA the mandate to coordinate all Counter Terrorism and PCVE efforts in the country with the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
“Unequivocally, this has been witnessed in Government sustained complementary support to International and Domestic partners on PCVE and terrorism intervention programmes to strengthen communities resilience and ensure a safer society,” he said.
Laka urged stakeholders at the workshop to bring their expertise to bear, so as to sharpen the strategies and expand the scope for more impactful PCVE efforts across Nigeria.
He also urged the global community fund to increase their funding for Nigeria considering the successes being recorded in the implementation of the project, and to ensure sustainability and ownership.
According to him, increased funding will solve the problem of terrorism because youths are vulnerable due to lack of employment, among others.
“So with increased funding, we will be able to engage the youths to prevent them from joining these terrorist groups or to engage in any violent acts,” he added
The fund’s Country Manager, Mickael Amar, said the workshop was to explain the main findings of the country needs assessment with a view to give more insight on where to reposition the strategy for preventing violent extremism.
Amar said the organisation had since 2016 been supporting Nigeria and local Civil Society Organisations to prevent violent extremism in the country.
According to him, it is time for them to have an extra look on what they can do better and what they should keep doing.
“This session today will help us to bring more evidence on where we should put our efforts and to get some alignment with what has been discussed during the past two days.
”This will also help to reinforce the prevention aspect of combating violent extremism.
“We will also draft a new strategy that will be followed by all stakeholders, including the authorities of Nigeria, to make sure that we all join hands together to combat violent extremism in the country,” he said. (NAN)
F.A
April 24, 2024
Tags: Counter Terrorism
