Britain has expressed grave concern about what it described as the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria and pledged to help the country tackle insecurity.

The UK’s Minister of Armed Forces, James Heappey, and the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, expressed worry at the deteriorating security situation in the country, adding that London was keen on helping Nigeria win its fight against insecurity.

They spoke at different fora during engagements in Abuja between Monday and yesterday.

Britain’s pledge to help Nigeria combat insecurity came just as the United States, in a report released yesterday excoriated Nigeria over its human rights records but said it could not confirm the accurate figures of causalities during the shootings at Lekki Tollgate last year.

“We are extremely concerned about the deteriorating security situation.

“I mean Nigeria is facing a lot of problems everywhere – in the North-east, terrorism; in the North-west, banditry, kidnapping; in the Middle Belt, the farmers-herders conflict; in the South, the Niger Delta conflict everywhere.

“And the secession movements in the South-east. So, Nigeria is struggling,” Liang told journalists yesterday in Abuja on the sidelines of reception to welcome home the 2019/2020 UK Chevening Scholarship beneficiaries.

Laing said the UK government had been helping the Nigerian military with training, campaign planning, and how to counter improvised explosive devices.

“Well, we are here to support and help. We have the military team here, who came here after the Chibok girls were kidnapped actually. We are still here, training the Nigerian military, helping them to do campaign planning, how to counter IEDs,” Laing said.

She added that the recent visit of the UK’s Minister of Armed Forces, James Heappey, during which he interacted with the Nigerian government at the highest level, including the service chiefs, also showed the commitment of the UK government to assist Nigeria in combating insecurity.

Laing, however, urged the federal government to be specific about the support it needed from the UK and what the UK can offer.

“So, we are here for a long time. This is a Nigerian partnership. Your insecurity becomes our insecurity if we don’t help you tackle it. So, we are here and we are trying to do our best to support you,” she said.

Chairperson of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, urged the Chevening scholarship beneficiaries to use the knowledge and skills gained for Nigeria’s development.

Earlier, Heappey, during his meeting with Nigerian service chiefs, committed the UK to assist Nigeria in tackling the growing insecurity, especially terrorism.

A statement by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office of UK said Heappey, who visited Nigeria on Monday, met with Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari; Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd); Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo; Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor; and the Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum.

”Minister for the Armed Forces said the UK would continue to work closely with Nigeria to address the current security situation. He discussed future Nigeria-UK opportunities to strengthen cooperation, including further UK Ministry of Defence assistance for Nigeria. He also stressed the importance placed on human rights in our engagement”, the statement stated.

The UK said the minister’s visit had demonstrated the importance of the UK-Nigeria partnership across a range of foreign policy and defense objectives.

It added: ”The UK’s recently launched Integrated Review – our most significant review of foreign, defense, development and security policy since the end of the Cold War – clearly identifies Ni