Chadian President holds talk with Buhari, Says ‘we can eradicate Boko Haram’

By our reporter| Consistency in the operations of the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) can bring an end to Boko Haram insurgency, Chadian President Idriss Déby said on Saturday.

MNJTF is a combined multinational formation, comprising units, mostly military forces, from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.

Deby who made the disclosure while speaking with reporters shortly after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in Abuja, lamented that the task force has not been carrying out enough of its required activities as it embarks on just one operation in a whole year, making it difficult to defeat the terrorists.

“Boko Haram is indeed an evil that has hampered the four countries of the Lake Chad Basin and it has done much harm to our populations,” he said.

“It would be remembered that since 2013/2014, the four countries put together their means to create the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). The MNJTF has had good results.

“Unfortunately, the resilience of Boko Haram and the Islamic states in the Lake Chad Basin has been unprecedented. They are being supplied, being trained, and being formed through Libya.

“The MNJTF has done a lot of work and as you have seen recently, we’ve had exchanges on this with my brother on the way ahead.”

Déby, however, expressed optimism that with new strategies being deployed and new officers with fresh ideas being assigned to take over commands at both national and regional levels, the menace of various terror groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP), would be addressed permanently.

“With the new team of the chief of defense staff and the new commander that has been appointed at the Multinational Joint Task Force, they are convinced that we can eradicate Boko Haram,” he added.

“There’s a lot of hope on this new team, with this new strategy. I remain confident that the four armies of the four countries can finish this evil and eradicate Boko Haram once and for all.

“All the countries participating are taking responsibility. None of them is shirking their responsibilities and the military of all the countries also have that sense of responsibility of what needs to be done and what their obligation is, which is to protect all the countries.”