Addressing the Regional Summit on Security convened by France President, Francois Hollande in Paris, on Saturday, Jonathan said that the Boko Haram insurgency was targeting the stability and integrity of Nigeria and, therefore, requested the international community to designate the group as Al-Qaeda in West Africa followed by necessary sanctions.
Jonathan and his contemporaries in Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin Republics declared a “total war” on the terrorist sect, including Ansaru, noting that it had become a regional al-Qaeda that threatened the entire West African region.
The presidents of the countries, in a meeting with officials from the United Kingdom, United States and France at the Paris summit, designed to work out a plan to enable them to share intelligence, coordinate action and monitor borders, agreed on a number of initiatives to curtail the excesses of the insurgents and as well mobilise funds in support of women and girls in marginalised areas.
The summit agreed to institute sanctions against Boko Haram and Ansaru within the framework of the United Nations.
Total war on Boko HaramAccording to Jonathan, “Boko Haram is no longer a local terrorist group; it is operating clearly as an al-Qaeda operation. It is an al-Qaeda of West Africa,” even as Hollande stated that Boko Haram was a threat to West and Central Africa.
“Boko Haram is a major threat for all of western Africa and now Central Africa with proven links to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other terrorist organisations,” Hollande said, just as the President of Chad, Idriss Deby, noted that neighbouring countries to Nigeria were ready to wage war against Boko Haram as fears mount the group will spread beyond its borders and destabilise the wider region.
Though France ruled out any direct military operation, noting saying Nigeria was to take the lead, its president revealed that France’s Rafale fighter jets based in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, about 60 kilometres from the Nigerian border, would be involved in reconnaissance missions.
Boko Haram has already targeted French interests in Nigeria, kidnapping a French family in northern Cameroon last year.
Jonathan said his government has shown commitment for a regional approach. “Without West African countries coming together we will not be able to crush these terrorists,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cameroonian president, Paul Biya, has promised to send more means and troops towards the country’s Northern border, where Nigeria complained is being used by the militants as sanctuary from the Nigerian military.
‘12,000 Nigerians have been killed by sect’Preisdent Jonathan said: “Since 2009, we have had to contend with many attacks and killings, which have now developed into a full-scale war targeting the stability and integrity of our Nation. Boko Haram has launched a vicious guerrilla-style campaign against the government and the people of Nigeria.
“It has attacked schools, slaughtered students in their dormitories, destroyed villages, communities and government infrastructure and has wreaked havoc on the economic and social life of our people.
“This unconventional war has so far claimed over 12,000 lives, with more than 8, 000 persons injured or maimed, not to mention the displacement of thousands of innocent Nigerians.
“We have developed intelligence, which indicates clearly that global terrorist networks are deeply involved in the recent activities of Boko Haram, which has now turned into an integral part of the Al Qaeda network as the West African Branch.
“At the international level, we should take concrete steps to designate the Al-Qaeda in West Africa, alias Boko Haram, as a Terrorist Organisation on the basis of the Proscription Order that my government has already imposed on the organisation,” Jonathan said.
‘Why I didn’t visit Chibok’On the school girls abducted by the insurgents in Chibok, the president thanked the international community for their assistance in the search and rescue effort so far, revealing that the major challenge facing the operation has been the deluge of misinformation about the whereabouts of the girls and the circumstances of their disappearance.
Reacting to the controversy surrounding his failure to visit Chibok, President Jonathan explained that it was not necessary for him to visit Chibok, Borno State, where over 200 girls were abducted in the Government Girls Secondary School, because the girls were not in the school, noting that his interest was to locate and rescue the girls.
He said the service chiefs had already visited the area, as he maintained that the emphasis was on the rescue of the girls abducted over a month ago.
“These girls are not held in Chibok. People want the president to go to Chibok but if the president goes to Chibok today, it does not solve any problem. The problem facing the president and indeed the Nigerian government is how to get these girls from wherever they are.
“We have deployed about 20,000 troops to the area, intensified aerial surveillance, and strengthened local intelligence resources. We shall spare no effort, we shall explore every avenue; we shall turn every stone, to ensure the return of the girls to their families and that the terrorists are defeated,” the president said, adding that the Nigerian military forces were being trained to develop the capacity to adequately deal with the threat of terror.
He also asserted that the allegation of misappropriation of funds by the military was exaggerated, though he conceded that administrative lapses may have a part to play in the inadequate funding of the war against terror.
W/Africa, world powers agree on sanctionsAt the end of the summit presided over by the French president, Nigeria and its neighbours agreed to build analysis and response capabilities that will contribute to enhancing the security of all populations and the rule of law in the areas affected by Boko Haram’s terrorist acts.
In order to combat the insurgents’ threat “which manifested itself through several murderous attacks and the abduction of more than 270 school girls, Nigeria and its neighbours have decided to immediately on a bilateral basis implement coordinated patrols with the aim of combating Boko Haram and locating the Chibok girls.
They are also to establish a system to pool intelligence in order to support this operation, establish mechanisms for information exchange on trafficking of weapons and bolster measures to secure weapons stockpiles while also establishing mechanism for border surveillance.
The communique issued after the meeting added that countries are to establish an intelligence pooling unit, create a dedicated team to identify means of implementation and draw up, during a second phase, a regional counter-terrorism strategy in the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
It said: “The United States, the United Kingdom, France and the European Union will coordinate their support for this regional cooperation through technical expertise, training programmes and support for the border area management programmes.”
The participants committed to “accelerating the implementation of international sanctions against Boko Haram, Ansaru and their main leaders, within the United Nations framework as a priority.”
France, US, Britain and the European Union pledged to mobilise donors in support of programmes fostering socio-economic development of the regions concerned with particular emphasis on gender equality and the rights of women and girls.
The participants agreed that the United Kingdom would host a follow-up meeting next month at ministerial level to review progress on this action plan.
The leaders of Nigeria’s neighbours - Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, as well as representatives from the United States, United Kingdom and European Union, attended the summit to discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in West and Central Africa.
President Jonathan arrived Elysee Palace at 11.55am local time and was received by his host, President Hollande.
They were later joined by Presidents Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger Republic), Boni Yayi (Benin Republic), Biya (Cameroon) and Deby (Chad), as well as US Under Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman; British Foreign Affairs Secretary, William Hague and European Union representative, Herman Van Rompuy.
Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), were invited into the meeting about one hour after its commencement.
Mr Hollande had, on Friday, discussed the issue of the rescue of the Chibok girls in a phone conversation with US President, Barack Obama, even as the US, which says it considers the safe return of the girls as one of their priorities, already has its specialist teams and drones searching the Sambisa forest.
France, China, Israel and Canada are some of the counties also providing Nigeria with expert assistance to help release the girls.
Before going for the summit, President Jonathan also hosted former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to a meeting in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Paris.
The Nigerian Ambassador to France, Hakeem Sulaimon, explained in a chat that the Paris summit was a necessary strategic forum to deal with “a very vicious terrorist group” by building regional bridge, as he noted that Boko Haram is a cross-border phenomenon requiring sub-regional consensus on how to effectively tackle it.
‘UK to send military advisers’The United Kingdom, on Saturday, offered to send advisers to help the Nigerian military organise its efforts to fight Boko Haram, which is threatening to destabilise the wider region.
British Foreign Minister, William Hague, speaking before the beginning of the summit in Paris, said the Nigerian military was not organised in a way to deal effectively with the Islamist group.
“Nigerian security forces have not been well-structured for this kind of thing and that has been shown by the problem getting worse,” Hague told reporters.
“We can help with that which is why we are offering to embed military advisers within the Nigerian headquarters.”
But Nigeria must still lead the way, he said.
“Nigeria has the main responsibility and must be the leading nation in tackling this and that includes to mount an effective security response and improve development,” he said.
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War is inevictable
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