‘Nigeria should lead regional anti-Boko Haram fo’

President Muhammadu Buhari

Nigeria should lead a regional anti-Boko Haram force for the duration of its operations, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday, as he met counterparts for talks on military strategy.

Talks have been taking place since Monday on the exact remit of an 8,700-strong force comprising troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin, to take on the Islamists in northeast Nigeria.

 But Buhari said proposals for a six-month rotating command between the five nations could hamper operations and called for a Nigerian to remain in charge until the militants were defeated.

“Six months duration as it is being proposed… does not augur well for effectiveness and efficiency,” he told a heads of state and government meeting of the countries involved in Abuja.

“Such a process will undermine, even if it is not intended, the military capacity to sustain the push against the insurgents, who also have the uncanny ability to adapt and rejig their operational strategies.

“I’m inclined on account of the above to suggest to your excellencies… that Nigeria retains the position of the field commander of the MNJTF (Multi-National Joint Task Force) for the period of the war effort.”

Buhari said a single commander would improve “the effectiveness of military strategy since Nigeria will be providing the bulk of the troops and the main theatre of the war is on Nigerian soil.”

Nigeria’s military last week announced that a senior officer, Major-General Tukur Buratai, had taken charge of the MNJTF, which has its headquarters in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.

Buhari, who has made defeating Boko Haram his main priority since taking office on May 29, has urged long-term regional co-operation on the threat posed by the Islamic State-allied group.

The MNJTF is designed to take over from a current coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, which has claimed a series of successes against the militants since February.

But Chad and Niger in particular have complained of a lack of coordination with the high command in Abuja and being blocked from conducting operations deeper inside Nigerian territory.