President Muhammadu Buhari has said the country would collaborate with Turkey in the fight against terrorism and arms smuggling into Nigeria.

The decision was one of those taken at the conclusion of the ninth D-8 Summit when President Buhari met with President Recep Erdogan of Turkey.

In a statement on Sunday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said the two governments agreed to support each other in the fight against terrorism, human trafficking, drugs trafficking and arms trafficking after Buhari’s four-day engagement in Turkey.

The statement titled, “Key Takeaways From President Muhammadu Buhari’s Four-Day Engagement in Turkey”, stated that President Buhari’s visit to Turkey featured the discussion about security and anti-terrorism, agricultural cooperation, trade cooperation, education and health, transport and connectivity, energy sector cooperation and increased private sector participation.

He said the President of Turkey mentioned the menace of the Fethullah organisation “FETO”.

“There are more than 1,000 Turkish citizens in Nigeria, many of them accused of belonging to this organisation and for which reason their passports have been declared invalid by their country.

“Nigeria has her own problems with the Boko Haram terrorist organisation, which claims ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and (possibly) Daesh (two international terrorist organisations which Turkey is up against) in the fight of which we get support from Turkey and we desire more.”

Shehu said Nigeria and Turkey are both confronted with domestic terror organisations for which they need each other’s help.

Other issue highlighted during the visit included the smuggling of illicit arms from Turkey into Nigeria.

“The issue of the smuggling of illicit arms allegedly from Turkey was also discussed. Turkey agreed to enter into an agreement with Nigeria that their ports, harbours, airports and territories will not ever again be used as transit points for such trafficking originating from other lands,” the Presidential spokesman said.

On the issues of the suspected terrorists of Turkish origin in Nigeria, Buhari assured President Erdogan that he would not allow any person or organisation to use Nigeria's territory for subversive activities. (Channels TV)

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