The four African nations most threatened by the Boko Haram must put aside mutual distrust and agree on a command structure and strategy for a fledgling regional force if they want to defeat the militants, a top United Nations official has said.
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, UN Special Representative for West Africa, said the international community could only help Nigeria and neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon once they clearly laid out the assets they lacked to fight Boko Haram.
A month before presidential election in Nigeria, Boko Haram has seized swathes of new territory. It has killed hundreds of people in northern Nigeria, displaced several thousand more and seized the base of a regional military task force meant to fight it.
The fall of Baga this month, where as many as 2,000 people are reported to have been killed, led to increased calls for international support to halt an insurgency that has spread from northern Nigeria to threaten parts of Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
“It is clear now that the countries should not be left to tackle it individually. That has been the approach so far and it is not winning the fight,” Chambas told Reuters.
He said it was up to the four states bordering Lake Chad to draw up better coordinated plans. He called for a clearer command structure and rules of engagement, amid resistance from some countries to see their troops deploy outside their borders under foreign command.
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