President Muhammadu Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, pledged on Thursday to improve the exchange of intelligence and security cooperation along their border in a bid to tackle the Boko Haram sect.
Concluding his first visit to Cameroon since he was elected in March, President Buhari and his Cameroonian host voiced support in a joint statement for a planned multinational task force to fight Boko Haram, which has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, Reuters says.
Buhari’s visit came after the insurgents launched a wave of attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger that has killed hundreds of people in the past two months.
The attacks follow a four-month military campaign by Nigeria, Chad and Niger that drove Boko Haram out of the towns in northeast Nigeria.
“The two heads of state note with satisfaction the weakening of the operational capabilities of Boko Haram,” read a joint statement in French.
“They expressed their common determination to eradicate Boko Haram and in this respect agreed to intensify intelligence sharing between their security services.”
The 8,700-strong task force of five nations near Lake Chad – Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin – was due to start operations from July 31, but has been dogged by questions of funding, coordination and political will.
“As a result of the promises made by the G-7 to help the region to defeat Boko Haram, we are expecting some input in terms of training and equipment,” Reuters quoted Buhari as saying to Cameroonian state television before his departure aboard a Nigerian air force plane.
Biya took no questions.
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