Buhari in Cameroon Wednesday over Boko Haram
Nigerian President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari will travel to
neighbouring Cameroon on Wednesday to consult with counterpart Paul Biya on
Boko Haram's insurgency, presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said.
"President Buhari is going to Cameroon on Wednesday. He
will hold talks with President Biya on arrival on Wednesday and the issue of
Boko Haram will be central in their discussion," he said on Monday, reports AFP.
"The visit is part of the consultation on the Boko
Haram insurgency. He was to have gone on the visit in June but for the
invitation to Germany by the G7," Adesina said of Buhari's participation
last month in the German-hosted summit of leading industrialised nations-- his
first major international meeting as Nigerian president.
Since his inauguration on May 29, Buhari has visited Chad
and Niger, two neighbouring countries jointly fighting Boko Haram along with
Nigeria.
"The one-day visit to Cameroon aims to build a strong
regional alliance to confront Boko Haram," another presidential spokesman,
Garba Shehu, said.
He declined to give details on the deployment of regional
troops, but insisted it "will still be at the end of this month."
The long-awaited Multi-National Joint Task Force, which was
due to have been operational in November, has its headquarters in the Chadian
capital N'Djamena.
A new commander for the 8,700-strong fighting force is
expected to be named to replace its former Nigerian leader, Major General Tukur
Yusuf Buratai, who was appointed earlier this month as chief of staff of
Nigeria's army.
Boko Haram attacks in Chad and Niger have claimed dozens of
lives in the past weeks.
Heavy fighting broke out Monday between the Chadian army and
Boko Haram jihadists, security and local sources said.
"Violent clashes" are under way near Baga Sola,
one of the main Chadian towns in the lake that straddles Chad, Cameroon,
Nigeria and Niger, a Chadian security source said.
Boko Haram had earlier this month claimed responsibility for
twin suicide bombings in N'Djamena that left 38 people dead, the SITE
Intelligence Group reported.
Three days later, at least 15 people were killed in a
suicide bomb attack at a crowded market in the Chadian capital.
Last month military top brass from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and
Cameroon, plus a high-level military official from Benin met in Abuja to thrash
out plans to take on Boko Haram, whose six-year insurgency has claimed at least
15,00 lives.
Buhari, 72, is due back in Abuja on Thursday from Cameroon,
Adesina said.
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