Mohamed Ibn Chambas,
Special Representative of the
UN Secretary-General for West
Africa, has announced plans by
the UN and the African Union
(AU) to deploy 7,800 troops to fight Boko Haram insurgency. Chambas told NAN on Tuesday
in Lagos that the troops would
be properly equipped to
combat all forms of Boko
Haram insurgency in West and
Central Africa. The special representative said
the UN, AU and international
partners met last month at
two separate meetings to
deliberate on the modalities
for creating a multi-national joint taskforce. Chambas added that the
taskforce would be
constituted with the
contribution of troops from
four countries. “One of the top priorities of
the UN today is the fight
against Boko Haram. Boko
Haram is not just a problem in
Nigeria but has become an
international concern. “As we all know today, Boko
Haram has also taken its
atrocities to Cameroon, Niger
and Chad. “This is why the support for
the Lake Chad Basin to be the
platform for coordinating a
joint fight against Boko Haram
is a welcome development. “The Lake Chad Basin
countries, AU, UN and
international partners have
agreed to have a joint
taskforce of 8,700 troops to be
contributed by four countries from Central and West Africa. “These troops would be
properly equipped to
aggressively give fight Boko
Haram activities in the sub-
region and Central Africa,” he
said. Chambas said that there was a
determination by the UN, AU
and some international
partners to “aggressively’’ face
the insurgents headlong. The UN official assured the
Nigerian Government of the
readiness of the international
community to support it
closely in fighting the scourge
of Boko Haram in the North- East. “The time has now come for
us all to come all-out to stop
Boko Haram activities in our
communities. “The fight against Boko Haram
has become an international
fight, an African fight for sure,
and will be anchored around
the Lake Chad Basin
Commission but with support from us all,” he said.http://nigeriacamera.net/un-au-to-deploy-8700-troops-to-fight-boko-haram/