Ban ki-Moon in Nigeria

Speaking after talks with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Monday (24.08.2015), UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the recent Nigerian presidential elections on March 28, which saw the peaceful transfer of power to the opposition in the West African nation.

"I hope this example will be emulated by many countries around the world," Ban said.

"For the first time in Nigerian history, a sitting president ceded power to an opposition candidate in a democratic election," the UN Secretary General noted.

Buhari came to power earlier this year on a platform of change, promising, among other things, to defeat the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has killed 15,000 people in a six year insurgency, and drive back corruption.

Ban underlined UN support for Buhari's efforts "to advance hope, peace, sustainable development and human rights in a comprehensive way."

Ban said that he had discussed with Buhari the "full range of issues covering human rights, peace and security including the cause of troubling levels of violence and terror perpetuated by Boko Haram."

He also noted that that this week 500 days will have elapsed since the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. Referring to them - and others abducted by Boko Haram - Ban said "it is intolerable that their lives have been interrupted in this way."

Ban also stressed the need for education and job opportunities in the northeast of Nigeria which has borne the brunt of attacks by Boko Haram.

"The humanitarian situation in the northeast is particularly worrying. We are working with partners on the ground to step up humanitarian operations," he said.

Replying to Ban's speech, Buhari said they had discussed "the difficult time in which Nigeria finds itself, the destruction of infrastructure especially in the northeast, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, and the welfare of the more than 1.5 million internally displaced persons that have to be morally, physically and materially rehabilitated."

Buhari also said he hoped Ban would be able to convey to the United Nations the efforts that Nigeria was undertaking "so that Nigeria can be helped."

Ryan Cummings from the risk consultancy Red24 described Ban's visit as "a message to Nigeria that they do have international support and backing in the fight against the insurgency."

Attack on UN Abuja headquarters four years ago

Earlier on Monday the UN Secretary General paid tribute to more than twenty people who were killed when a car bomb was detonated at UN House in Abuja, headquarters for some 400 employees, on August 26, 2011.

"Our fallen colleagues and partners will be remembered this morning with a moment of silence in many places," he said.

"But nowhere are the memories of these colleagues more immediate, more vivid and more compelling than here in Abuja," Ban told a ceremony at UN House.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack just under four years ago.

"The terrorists attacked the United Nations and destroyed the lives of many colleagues. But we have a mandate to build. To better the lives of people in need." Ban said.

During the ceremony he laid a wreath and hugged several relatives of the victims.

Ban touched down at Abuja's international airport on Sunday just hours after the Nigerian military had revealed that suspected Boko Haram fighters had ambushed a convoy carrying Nigeria's new army chief-of-staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai.

Buratai was unharmed, but one soldier and 10 militants died in the ensuing firefight, in Faljari village, east of Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's Borno State, according to army spokesman Sani Usman.

Buratai was appointed chief-of-staff in July when President Buhari sacked the army, navy, air force and defense chiefs nominated by his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan.

An 8,700 strong Multinational Joint Task Force - to which Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin are contributing - is expected to go into action against Boko Haram soon.