Categories: News

Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad & Niger Unite Against Boko Haram

On Wednesday, Defense Ministers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger agreed to provide troops in order to stamp out Boko Haram, reports the BBC.

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With each country contributing 700 troops each, the respective defense ministers hope to efface the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization that continues to wage daily assaults against civilians.

Echoing this goal, Niger Defense Minister Karidio Mahamadou said they were determined to “eradicate this curse.”

The group met in Niger’s capital of Niamey and reportedly met earlier in this year in May to coordinate their efforts on intelligence and border security.

Boko Haram’s violence has spilled across a number of borders, particularly in Cameroon.

For example, also on Wednesday, the militants allegedly blew up the Ngala bridge, which links Nigeria and Cameroon.

In March, Face2Face Africa reported on a second-class soldier who was murdered by militants and a Boko Haram attack that occurred at a security post in Cameroon in May:

“On May 7th at 2 a.m., more than 30 suspected members of Boko Haram, who were very heavily armed, attacked the Territorial Brigade Post of the Cameroonian Gendarmerie, killing a chief warrant officer on duty and freeing one of their members who was in custody.”

Yet another attack would take place later that month.

“According to reports gathered by Face2Face Africa, the very heavily armed Boko Haram members stormed the Chinese road construction company’s base at about 9 p.m. GMT. Following a fierce gun battle between them and the Cameroonian special Rapid Intervention Unit who were on guard, Boko Haram still succeeded in killing one soldier, Sergeant Abdou Bouba, and wounding two others, Sergeants Biloa Samuel Roland and Mousa Boubakari.

“Boko Haram also kidnapped 10 Chinese workers, injured a Cameroonian driver and a Chinese. They stole 10 double pickup vehicles (4-wheel drivers), two trucks, and a container of explosives belonging to the Chinese company and one gun. Afterward, they took off, abandoning two motor bikes and a crenate they came with for the attack.”

As for Boko Haram’s alleged activities in neighboring Chad and Niger, they have reportedly increased their ranks by recruiting from both countries.

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Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.