Three African heads of state in the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Nigeria’s President Mu- hammadu Buhari will today hold a summit in Abuja on Boko Haram.
Presidents of Chad, Idriss Deby, Niger, Mahamadou Is- soufou, and Republic of Be- nin, are expected to attend the summit, while Camer- oon’s minister of defence is expected to represent President Paul Biya.
At the meeting, the Af- rican leaders are expected to discuss the security chal- lenge affecting the four coun- tries, which have boundaries with one another.
The countries majorly affected by the Islamist mili- tant group Boko Haram will take significant steps toward establishing a joint task force when they meet today at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producing country, has been besieged by terror attacks perpetrated by the Boko Ha- ram sect, mostly in its North Eastern region. Boko Haram has killed thousands and displaced about 1.5 million people dur- ing a six-year insurgency.
Its aim has been to establish an Islamic emirate and extend- ing its reach into neighbour- ing Chad and Cameroon.
ELIZABETH ARCHIBONG
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