The United States (U.S.) is
set to join forces with the Muhammadu Buhari administration in the battle
against Boko Haram.
The Obama administration
will send a team to Nigeria in the next few weeks to discuss with the
government ways to renew cooperation in the fight against the sect, a senior
U.S. diplomat said yesterday.
In N’Djamena, the capital of
Chad yesterday, President Buhari and his host President Idris Derby pledged to
pursue the sect members “everywhere”.
They spoke after a bilateral
meeting on the activities of the sect, which has been operating across the
borders.
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry was at Buhari’s inauguration last week. This underscores U.S. interest in
working with his government.
Tensions emerged
between the former government of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Obama
administration last year over corruption and human rights abuses by the
military in its campaign to crush Boko Haram.
In his inauguration
speech, Buhari vowed to defeat Boko Haram and called the group, which pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in March, “mindless” and
“godless”.
”With the new
government, we are optimistic we can reset the relationship,” U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a congressional
hearing. “We want to work with him and have expressed that to him.”
She said Buhari had
committed both publicly and privately to “do everything possible to address the
situation in terms of resources and staff” to tackle Boko Haram, which launched
its insurgency in 2009.
U.S. officials have
said the United States could send more advisers to Nigeria to train its
military and help boost the economy, the largest in Africa, through more
investment in its oil and gas sector.
Thomas-Greenfield said
the United States was encouraged that Buhari’s first trips were to neighbors
Niger and Chad, which are part of a multi-national force being set up to fight
Boko Haram’s insurgency in the Lake Chad region.
Nigeria’s
Major-General Tukur Buratai has been appointed to head the new force, which
will be funded partly by the international community.
”He is someone we have
worked with and someone we feel will be a positive force on the multinational
task force,” she said, adding that Buhari was still studying options to fund a
stepped- up effort to tackle Boko Haram.
A communiqué issued at the
end of President Buhari’s one-day visit to Chad said both leaders agreed on the
need to quickly make the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fully
operational to effectively combat terrorism in Northeast Nigeria and
“everywhere” that Boko Haram operates.
The two Presidents called on
the international community to support the Lake Chad Basin Commission and
neigbouring countries to combat terrorism and insurgency.
“Both Heads of State agreed
that the war on Boko Haram should be supported by emergency development
initiatives in areas affected by this insurgency group.
“This will help to overcome
the harmful effects faced by local populations,” the communiqué said.
President Buhari paid
tribute to the gallantry of Chadian soldiers who have engaged in operations
against Boko Haram and condoled the families of their comrades who were killed
in action.
While in the Chadian capital,
President Buhari also met with Gen. Buratai, who has just been appointed Force
Commander of the MNJTF whose headquarters will be in N’Djamena.
Yesterday’s visit was the
second of the two-leg trip by Buhari to neigbouring countries to galvanise them
for the final onslaught against Boko Haram. Buhari was in Niger Republic on
Wednesday.
Buhari noted that the
security of Nigeria and her neighbours were intrinsically linked, adding that
it is very essential that they cooperate on security issues in a robust and
sustained manner.
The President said when it
becomes fully deployed and functional, the MNJTF, which comprises Nigeria,
Chad, Niger and Cameroon, will secure and stabilise all the areas affected
by the Boko Haram insurgency.
He reaffirmed his conviction
that with greater cooperation among Nigeria and neighbouring countries, the
Boko Haram insurgency will be brought to an end very soon.
Buhari thanked Chad for her
invaluable support in the fight against insurgency and terrorism.
He said: “Your troops have stood
shoulder to shoulder and fought gallantly with ours in the fight against the
forces of evil.
“This is a remarkable show
of good neighbourliness, which we must reinforce in the years ahead.”
The President said the
harrowing images of displaced citizens of both countries, in search of safety
and succour must spur their governments and others in the sub-region to do more
“to restore their dignity and give them the relief they need”.
On the bilateral relations
between Nigeria and Chad, Buhari noted that both countries were bound by
“nature’’, adding that they must therefore work together to find lasting
solutions to border management, migration and movement of goods and services.
The President also thanked
President Deby for attending his inauguration ceremony on May 29 in Abuja,
adding that he would return to Nigeria with the assurance that Nigeria and Chad
are poised to intensify their cooperation.
President Deby praised
Buhari for his “wise decision’’ to relocate the Nigerian Military Command
centre from Abuja to Maiduguri.
The Chadian President said
that the decision, which was announced in President Buhari’s inaugural
address, was a right step towards restoring peace and security to states
affected by terrorism, and the sub-region.
He assured President Buhari
that Chad will continue to work with Nigeria to achieve lasting peace and
security in the sub-region, given their historic, cultural and economic ties.
The Nation
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