President Bola Tinubu has pointed out the role played by the global community in the escalation of illegal mining, illicit funds flow, and terrorism funding in Africa, saying they owe the continent and must help in the ongoing war against the menace.

President Tinubu also emphasised the need for African countries to strengthen regional cooperation and institution-building to address the evolving threat of terrorism on the continent, stressing that terrorism poses a significant threat to peace, security, and development in Africa.

The president spoke on monday at the opening ceremony of a two-day African High-Level Meeting on Counter-terrorism, hosted by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Abuja, emphasising that it is money from other places that have been fuelling illegal mining in Africa, which has in turn been funding terrorism.

According to him, illegal mining, which has robbed countries on the continent of the natural resources that the government ought to have been deployed to meet their national needs, is now being hijacked by terrorist groups in exchange for foreign cash, which is in turn used to buy more arms and ammunition.