Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi announced he
will send 800 troops to join a new multinational force tasked with fighting Boko Haram militants after meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari Saturday.

Buhari, who was sworn in on May 29, is facing a
particularly deadly surge of Islamist violence at
home, with more than 800 people killed in north-
eastern Nigeria in the last two months.

The violence has spread to neighbours Chad and
Cameroon, both of whom have faced an
unprecedented wave of suicide bombings on their
soil in recent weeks.

After a visit to Cameroon earlier this week to discuss the fight against the Islamist group, Buhari was in Cotonou to attend celebrations marking Benin’s 55 years of independence.

Boni Yayi told reporters after a meeting with Buhari
that Benin will show “solidarity” with its “brothers in
arms” in the region by sending “a contingent of 800
men… to permanently combat these outlaws”.

Troops for the new multinational force, which
includes soldiers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad as well as Benin, were set to be deployed at any time, according to its commander Major General Iliya Abbah on Saturday.

The force, made up of 8,700 troops and
headquartered in Chad, is expected to help with
better coordination of the regional offensive
launched in February, which has made a series of
successful inroads against Boko Haram but has failed to neutralise the militants.

The extremist group, whose name roughly translates as “Western education is forbidden”, has carried on its campaign of attacks on security forces, suicide bombings and bloody raids on villages across Nigeria’s north and eastern borders despite the military campaign against them.

Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of civilians,
including women and children, with many either
forced or indoctrinated into joining the extremists,
rights groups say.

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.. Ok

Fight against Boko Haram is fight against NORTH