UK Foreign Secretary, Mr. Jeremy Hunt, Wednesday warned against an impending attack on Nigeria by Islamic State (IS), saying that the rise of the group needed to be “nipped in the bud.”

Hunt described the area around the North-east as an “outpost of Daesh (Islamic State),” adding that the violence could “escalate quickly and… get out of control”, the Press Association (PA) news agency reports.

BBC reported that Hunt made the comments when visiting the regional city of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, as part of his five-nation tour of the continent.

Hunt said the rise of the Islamic State group needed to be “nipped in the bud”.

Hunt said that the British government wanted to work closely with Nigeria to help deal with the problem. The UK has already trained 30,000 Nigerian troops and offered humanitarian and development support.

The foreign secretary also pledged to help tackle climate change, saying that could help prevent the escalation of the conflict.

He is due to travel on to Ethiopia and Kenya. (THISDAY)