Chad, Cameroon join forces against Boko Haram

STANDING UP AGAINST TERROR: Protesters at the Trocadero Place in Paris, France against Boko Haram’s activities...yesterday.

•Sect kidnaps 80 in Cameroon •5 die in Potiskum blast

International troops are set to battle Boko Haram – the fundamentalist sect responsible for the insurgency in the Northeast and across the border in Cameroon.
Boko Haram struck in Cameroon yesterday, attacking a village. It kidnapped 80 citizens, including children and women.

In Potiskum, the commercial capital of Yobe State – one of the three states under the sect’s brutality, the others being Borno and Adamawa -  a suicide bomber believed to be working for the sect detonated an explosive device at a motor park. Five people, including the bomber, died.
Yesterday, Chadian troops were deployed in Northern Cameroon to join forces with their hosts to fight the sect across the border with Nigeria.

The African Union (AU) will next week take a decision on whether to create a force to fight Boko Haram.

Ghana President John Mahama, Chairman of Sub-regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) told Reuters news agency that ECOWAS will seek approval from the AU next week.

A contingent of soldiers from Chad has arrived in northern Cameroon where it will deploy to the Nigerian border as part of efforts to contain the Boko Haram insurgency, a spokesman for Cameroon’s Defence ministry said yesterday.

Boko Haram, which aims to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria, has stepped up attacks as Africa’s biggest economy prepares for a Feb. 14 presidential election.

The group has expanded its operational zone into northern Cameroon over the past year, prompting Yaounde to deploy thousands of additional forces, including elite troops, to its border with Nigeria.
A convoy of troops from Chad arrived in Maroua, the main town in Cameroon’s Far-North Region, late on Saturday, Colonel Didier Badjeck said while declining to say how many soldiers had been dispatched by N’Djamena.

“In the coming days, they will be deployed in the war zone on the border with Nigeria so that they can join our defence forces to crush and prevent incursions of Boko Haram into Cameroonian territory,” he said.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who recently appealed for international assistance against Boko Haram, announced last week that he was expecting the arrival of a large Chadian force to support his country’s efforts against the militants.

Chad has a reputation as one of the region’s best militaries and helped French forces drive al Qaeda-linked Islamists from northern Mali in 2013.

Despite the growing cross-border nature of the threat posed by Boko Haram, efforts to deploy a joint force from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon to take on the Islamist fighters have faltered.
Following increasing involvement of Chadians and Nigeriens in Boko Haram insurgency, the Federal Government may protest to the two countries.

It was also learnt that hope has finally dimmed on the negotiation between the Federal Government and Boko Haram being facilitated by Chad.

The military has, however, begun the interrogation of five Boko Haram insurgents, who were captured last week in Biu.

It was learnt that the five suspects had been relocated to a discreet military facility where they have been making “ useful statements” on the operation of the sect.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the Federal Government is no longer comfortable with the involvement of Chadians and Nigerien in Boko Haram insurgency.

Security reports on the invasion of Biu clearly confirmed the high presence of Chadian mercenaries among the insurgents, most of whom were killed.

It was learnt that the government was baffled that the same Chadian government had allegedly been assisting the Federal Government to negotiate with Boko Haram.

The two  circumstances were described as “tactically irreconcilable” by the government, a top military source disclosed last night.

The highly-placed source said: “The Federal Government may protest to Chad and Niger Republic over the increasing involvement of their nationals in Boko Haram insurgency.

 “In the spirit of Paris Pact, President Goodluck Jonathan has wielded enormous diplomatic goodwill to carry these neighbours along but they are not reciprocating. Nigeria cannot understand why Chadian troops withdrew from Baga before the insurgents struck and killed over 150 people.
“From the tactical analysis of the insurgency so far, there are sufficient clues to show that Boko Haram has well-established bases or outposts in these countries.

“We are in the process of making all our findings on the high number of Chadian elements in Boko Haram.”

But there were indications last night that hope might have finally dimmed on the ongoing negotiation with Boko Haram being coordinated by the Principal Secretary to the President, Mallam Hassan Tukur.

A top source, privy to the negotiation in government who spoke in confidence, said: “There is no serious headway because the sect has refused to respect ceasefire agreements.

“And with more Chadians fighting for Boko Haram, the element of trust in the negotiation is a bit shaky. The insurgents have not been forthcoming at all.”

The interrogation of five insurgents captured in Biu last week has started at a discreet military 
facility.

A competent contact said: “Those captured had been relocated to a military facility for intense grilling where they have made useful statements.

“We will keep you posted on our findings after a comprehensive investigation is concluded.”
On the ongoing dismissal of soldiers in some Army formations, the source added: “These were those who refused to fight in spite of the modern equipment provided for them.

“The law provides for jail terms, life sentence or death sentence. When some of them were sentenced to death, there was public outcry. Are you saying the military must not act when there is obvious case of indiscipline?

“We also discovered that some of those who spoke with CNN were those dismissed for deliberately refusing to fight against Boko Haram.”

Suspected Boko Haram fighters from Nigeria kidnapped around 80 people, many of them children, and killed three other yesterday  in a cross-border attacks on villages in northern Cameroon, army and government officials said.

The kidnappings, among the largest abductions on Cameroonian soil since the militants began expanding their zone of operations across the border last year, came as neighbouring Chad deployed troops to support Cameroon’s forces in the area.

“According to our initial information, around 30 adults, most of them herders, and 50 young girls and boys aged between 10 and 15 years were abducted,” a senior army officer deployed to northern Cameroon told Reuters.

He said the early-morning attack had targeted the village of Mabass and several other villages along the porous border with Nigeria. Soldiers intervened and exchanged fire with the raiders for around two hours, he added.

Government spokesman Issa Tchiroma confirmed the attack, in which he said three people had been killed, as well as the kidnappings, but was not able to say with certainty how many people had been taken in the raid. Around 80 homes were destroyed, he said.

Source: The Nation News