The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, concluded a week-long high-level visit to Nigeria today.
He held a series of high-level bilateral meetings with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar; Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja; Kayode Egbetokun, Inspector-
General of Police and President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Omar Alieu Touray.
The visit was marked by fruitful discussions centred on enhancing cooperation in countering terrorism
and violent extremism in Africa and advancing preparations for an upcoming African Counter-Terrorism
Summit (“Abuja Summit”) planned in Abuja in 2024.
This Abuja Summit will be organized under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General and the
President of Nigeria. It will provide a forum for Member States, International and Regional organizations
and Civil Society to review the terrorism landscape in Africa and agree on concrete priorities and measures
to address this scourge in a comprehensive manner.
A pre-summit ministerial meeting will take place on
21 September on the margins of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week.
During the high-level visit, Under-Secretary-General Voronkov signed two Memoranda of Understanding
(MoU) with the Nigerian Government, met with Nigerian Youth leaders and took part in a wreath-laying
ceremony with Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu to honour the memory of 23 United Nations
staff and civilians who died in the 2011 terrorist attack on the UN House in Abuja.
Under-Secretary-General Voronkov also travelled to Maiduguri, Borno State, to see first-hand the impact
of terrorism on the local population and the international community’s support in its rehabilitation and
reintegration processes, as well as to raise international awareness about the persistent insecurity in the
Lake Chad region.
In Maiduguri, he visited the Bulumkutu transit center, a UN-supported reintegration centre for women and children formerly associated with armed groups, and the Joint Investigation Center, a multi-agency hub for screening and investigating individuals detained during counter-terrorism
operations in the North East and onward referral for prosecution or rehabilitation and reintegration.
Mr. Voronkov emphasized that UNOCT, through its Global Programme on Prosecution, Rehabilitation and
Reintegration (PRR), continues to support Borno State and Nigeria in these efforts. The Under-Secretary-General and his UNOCT delegation return to New York from Abuja today.
