Nigeria reiterates support for right of Western Sahara people to self-determination

Abuja - MAP - The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Dr. Nuruddeen Mohammed, reiterated Friday his country’s firm supporting position to the struggle of the people of Western Sahara for freedom and self-determination, expressing concern about the serious Moroccan violations of human rights in the occupied Western Sahara, in a meeting with the Saharawi Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Oubi Bouchraya Bachir.

“Nigeria has stood beside the Saharawi people for many years and will continue its support for the Saharawis’s right of self-determination through free, democratic and transparent referendum under aegis of the United Nations,” said Dr. Nuruddeen Mohamed.

He explained that this position “stems from the history of Nigeria and its well-known positions in advocating rights of the African peoples and its just causes, expressing concern of the Nigerian government to the serious violations of human rights in Western Sahara and the justified delay in holding the referendum.

From his part, SADR ambassador to Nigeria briefed to his interlocutor the latest developments on the Saharawi cause, including rounds of negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco as well as escalation of Moroccan repression against the Saharawi civilians since the dismantlement of Gdeim Izik camp last November.

Mr. Bouchraya Bachir commanded in this regard “the brave position of Nigeria which has been expressed within the Security Council, calling to provide the adequate international protection for the Saharawi civilians through extending the mandates of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to include monitoring of human rights.”

He also reaffirmed to his interlocutor “the strong intention of the Saharawi government to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two nations and boost them to be at the level of the relation of brotherhood and solidarity existing between the two brotherly peoples.”

The meeting, which took place in the office of the Nigerian Minister in Abuja, was attended by the directors of Africa and North Africa as well as Director of the Office of Dr. Nuruddeen Mohammed.