Buhari Calls For Closer Nigeria-Chad Ties Against Boko Haram

                        President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday praised Chad for joining the fight against Boko Haram, saying further cooperation was essential in the future.
The 72-year-old met Chad’s President Idriss Deby in the capital, N’Djamena, after a visit Wednesday to Niger, which is also part of a four-nation coalition tackling the Islamist militants.


Buhari, who took office last Friday, has made ending the insurgency a priority, after six years of violence that has left at least 15,000 people dead.

“Your troops have stood shoulder to shoulder and fought gallantly with ours in the fight against the forces of evil,” he told Deby.

“This is a remarkable show of good neighbourliness, which we must reinforce in the years ahead.”

Deby for his part “reaffirmed Chad’s involvement and availability” to work withNigeria, according to a statement from his office.

Chad’s involvement in the coalition began earlier this year when Deby sent troops to assist neighbouring Cameroon, whose far northern region was increasingly coming under attack by the rebels.

Troops later moved in to Nigerian territory and retook captured border towns but Deby complained about a lack of cooperation with the Nigerian military that in some cases saw gains reversed.

Anglophone Nigeria has typically viewed its Francophone neighbours with suspicion, which has been blamed for the lack of a joined approach in tackling the militants.

On Wednesday, the military in Abuja announced that a Nigerian officer had taken charge of the new African Union-backed Multi-National Joint Task Force based in N’Djamena.

The 8,700-strong unit, made up of military personnel, police and civilians fromNigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, had been due to be deployed last November.

In a statement, Buhari said “sustained and robust” regional cooperation was essential because of the cross-border threat posed by Boko Haram.

The new fighting force “will be able to secure and stabilise all the areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency” and would help bring an end to the bloodshed, he added.

Buhari, a former military ruler who previously ousted Chadian forces from disputed islands on Lake Chad, where the two countries meet, was being closely watched for his dealings with the country.

As well as continued cooperation against Boko Haram, he said both countries needed to work together on border issues, migration and movement of goods and services.

Some of the 1.5 million people made homeless by the violence have fled to Chad.