Russia explains why it’s not participating in Chibok girls’rescue

Ambassador of Russia to Nigeria, Nikolay N. Udovichenko, has said his country do not have the plan of sending a team of security experts to assist Nigeria in the search for the abducted schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State because there were already many countries on the ground.

He disclosed this at the weekend during the country’s National Day Celebration in Abuja. Over 200 teenage girls were seized from a school NorthEast of Nigeria by the Boko Haram insurgents on April 14.

The abduction, which sparked international outrage, forced some countries, including the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), to deploy technical expertise to the country to assist in the rescue effort.

The Russian envoy, while responding to question from journalists on whether his country plans to send security specialists to assist Nigeria in the search, said: “So far, I think that it is not very topical because there are some experts from different countries already and it is better for the Nigerian side to coordinate their being here”.

He explained “Because the question is not to send too many people; the question is how to organise, how to coordinate the activity.”

Udovichenko said what Russia planned to do is to engage Nigerian security agencies in trainings that would assist the country not only to combat the present security challenges but future problems. “We, first of all, try to deposit in future and the way to future is to train experts, specialists and to solve their social problems, economic problems,” he said.

The Russian envoy said “we know from our own experience, how important it is to stand together in the fight against terrorism, to stop financing the terrorist group, to find military decision and not only military decision but to continue permanent negotiation.”

Udovichenko hinted that the volume of trade between Nigeria and his country currently stands at half a billion dollars.