African leaders to hold summit to counter Boko Haram terror
The leaders of Central and West African countries plan to hold a summit in an effort to come up with a common strategy to counter the threat posed by Nigeria’s Takfiri Boko Haram terror group.
The planned event, due to be held on April 8 in Equatorial Guinea’s capital of Malabo, was announced on Sunday in a joint statement by its organizers, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
“In the face of the mounting and increasingly bloody attacks by the fundamentalists against Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, and the serious consequences for these countries, and the real risk of destabilizing Western and Central Africa, the two organizations have decided to take action,” read the statement.
The summit will be the first of its kind since Nigeria’s election just a week ago, in which former military leader, Muhammadu Buhari, who has pledged to rid his nation of the terror by the Takfiri Boko Haram group, emerged victorious.
It is not clear, however, whether President-elect Buhari would attend the summit, since he will not be sworn in as Nigeria’s new president until May 29, when he will officially succeed incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
The development comes as a regional coalition of military forces from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon has been waging offensives against the Takfiri terror group in an effort to defeat the militancy, which has also spread across the borders of Nigeria, where Boko Haram is based.
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