SEARCH IS ON: Soldiers lead the way as Chibok residents carry placards to protest the abduction of the missing schoolgirls in Maiduguri. Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram will mark a key turning point in the battle against the Islamists. Picture: AFP
ABUJA — Foreign ministers from Nigeria and neighbouring countries met on Wednesday to discuss Boko Haram, as the militants’ land grab intensified in the far northeast, raising fears for regional security.
The meeting of representatives from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger also includes officials from the US, Britain, France and Canada plus the African Union and United Nations.
Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs said the talks were aimed at “reviewing progress” of earlier meetings in Paris and London as well as the Africa Summit held in the US last month. [eap_ad_2] In particular, it would examine “the extent of foreign assistance, including efforts by the Nigerian government, in the continued fight to … rout the Boko Haram insurgency”, it said.
Regional powers vowed to play a greater role against the Islamists after the mass kidnapping of more than 200 girls from their school in northeast Nigeria in April, which caused global outrage.
International powers sent intelligence and surveillance specialists and equipment to Abuja to help trace the missing teenagers.
But nearly five months after the abduction, Western diplomats have indicated that there has been little progress, despite a claim from Nigeria’s military that they had located the girls.
Recent weeks have seen Boko Haram take over swathes of territory in northeast Nigeria, with the country’s military seemingly unable to check their advance.
Andrew Noakes, co-ordinator of the Nigeria Security Network of analysts, warned that the government was losing control of vast parts of the northeast and a humanitarian crisis loomed. (AFP)[eap_ad_3]
