Nigeria’s military has drawn fierce criticism for failing to rein in the insurgents, who have stepped up their campaign of terror in the northeast in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections planned for February 14.
Viewing the widening field of Boko Haram activity a direct threat to its national interests, Chad has had troops equipped with tanks and hundreds of other vehicles stationed since Monday on Niger’s territory in the Bosso region adjoining the border with Nigeria.
French President Francois Hollande on Thursday called on the international community to help fight extremism in Africa, instead of talking on the sidelines.
“Do your job, don’t give lessons, act. Do your duty, no one else will do it in your place,” Hollande said.
France is supporting the operations by carrying out reconnaissance flights over border areas of Chad and Cameroon to provide the two nations with intelligence, defence officials in Paris have said.
Boko Haram has seized control of vast tracts of northeastern Nigeria, including the strategic town of Baga in the Lake Chad region where the borders of four countries converge.
Troops from Chad and Niger stationed at a joint military base in Baga withdrew before Boko Haram fighters seized it on January 3.
Nigeria has reacted defensively to the presence of foreign troops on its soil.
“Nigeria’s territorial integrity remains intact,” defence spokesman Chris Olukolade insisted, claiming national forces had “planned and are driving the present onslaught against terrorists from all fronts in Nigeria, not the Chadian forces”.
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