France, Nigeria to deepen intelligence gathering cooperation

 France on Wednesday pledged to synergize with Nigerian on intelligence gathering to fight terrorism, said a French intelligence official.

Director of Military Intelligence, Christophe Gomert, said in Abuja when he visited Nigeria's Chief of Defense Intelligence, Monday Morgan, that his visit was a fallout of the coordinated attacks on Paris by the terror group ISIS.

Gomert said that his delegation in Abuja was to discuss Boko Haram and intelligence gathering with a view to defeating them.

The intelligence chief said that France was aware that 13 Nigerian military personnel had been trained in geo-spatial intelligence in Strasbourg, France.

Morgan said that the Defense Intelligence Agency had earlier requested France to encourage the Francophone countries in West Africa to intensify campaign against the Boko Haram.

He said that the military would require the expertise of developed countries like France to be able to set up the planned department.

He stressed the need for the country to devise effective ways of tackling the scourge of terrorism facing the international community.

He added that diplomatic relations between Nigeria and France had become more robust after the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to France in September.

According to him, the Buhari visit has stimulated effective collaboration between Nigeria and France in the fight against terrorism.

The Buhari visit to France has brought about the serious synergy that we have today between the French government and Nigeria in terms of intelligence sharing, he said.

The Boko Haram terrorists are said to have links with ISIS which claimed responsibility for the deadly Paris attacks.

Sources: XINHUA