Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru, affirms the country will strengthen its bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom (UK) to combat insecurity.

Badaru made the revelation when a UK delegation led by the Minister for Armed Forces and Veterans, Mr James Heappey, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

This is contained in a statement on Thursday, in Abuja, by Mrs Victoria Agba-Attah, Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry.

Badaru said that Britain had been supportive in ensuring the safety of Nigerian waterways, adding that security was a dynamic issue which had its own challenges.

He added that the Nigerian Military and British Military have to work together to combat the Boko Haram threat, and stressed that the West needed to give more support to Nigeria, just as it gave to other nations.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle opined that Nigeria and the UK have had good bilateral relations.

Matawalle reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to ending insurgency and banditry in the country.

He added that both countries needed to work closely in areas of capacity building, training of military personnel, technology transfer as well as the provision of modern equipment to fight Boko Haram.

Similarly, in his opening remarks, Dr Ibrahim Kana, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said that Britain topped the list of Nigeria's international friends, adding that Nigeria cherishes the relationship between the two countries.

Heappey, earlier in his remarks said that the purpose of their visit was to adjust and expand their support to the Armed Forces of Nigeria based on the needs and perception of the changing threats.