Nigeria and four neighbouring countries have declared a “total war” on Boko Haram saying that the dreaded Islamist militant group holding over 220 schoolgirls must be crushed as it has become a “regional al Qaeda” that threatens all of them.
Under a global and regional action plan firmed up to face the challenge posed by Boko Haram, the governments of Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad will share intelligence and border surveillance in the hunt for the girls still held by the militants.
Western nations will provide technical expertise and training to the new regional African effort against the extreme Islamists.
“Boko Haram is no longer a local terror group. It is clearly operating as an al Qaeda operation in central Africa,” Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said while speaking at a summit hosted by French President Hollande in Paris.
“We have shown our commitment for a regional approach. Without West African countries coming together we will not be able to crush these terrorists,” he said amid criticism that his government has done enough to rescue the schoolgirls abducted last month.
Jonathan said Nigeria has deployed 20,000 troops, aircraft and intelligence sources in areas where Boko Haram is active.
“The major challenge that we have faced in our search and rescue operation so far has been the deluge of misinformation about the whereabouts of the girls and the circumstances of their disappearance,” said the president.
Last month, Boko Haram abducted 223 schoolgirls in north-eastern Nigeria, where it is based. It released a video earlier last week showing over 100 of the girls and offering an exchange for prisoners.
According to officials, President Jonathan has ruled out negotiations over their possible release.
Boko Haram’s guerrilla campaign has claimed 12,000 lives, with 8,000 people injured since 2009, Jonathan said at the summit which brought together presidents of western African countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Hollande said the global and regional action plan to face the challenge posed by Boko Haram involved “coordinating intelligence, sharing information, border surveillance, a military presence notably around Lake Chad and the capacity to intervene in case of danger”.
Hollande called Boko Haram a “major threat to West and Central Africa”, and said it had links with al-Qaeda’s North-African arm and “other terrorist organisations”.
Speaking at a press conference, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya said, “We are here to declare war on Boko Haram.”
