UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday met with Olugbenga Ayodeji Ashiru, foreign minister of Nigeria, and discussed recent developments in the region, particularly on piracy and the investigation of an attack at a UN house in 2011 in Abuja, capital of the West African country.

"The secretary-general and the foreign minister discussed recent developments in Nigeria as well as progress made in the investigation of the August 26, 2011 attack against the UN House in Abuja that resulted in the deaths of 25 persons, including 13 UN staff members," said a UN readout released here by Ban's spokesperson.

In the UN readout, the two also exchanged views on how best to enhance the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

"In that connection, the secretary-general commended Nigeria for its crucial support to the Republic of Benin through the joint patrols the two countries are conducting along their common maritime coastline to tackle piracy throughout the gulf of Guinea," said the UN readout. "He also thanked the foreign minister for the support provided to the recent UN-African Union (AU) mission to the Sahel that assessed the impact of the Libyan crisis on the region."

Ban and the visiting Nigerian foreign minister also discussed the situation in Somalia and the need to continue to support African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the timely implementation of the road map, in addition to the discussion on Sudan's disputed area of Darfur.