HQ of Regional Force against Boko Haram to Cost $30m.

HQ of Regional Force against Boko Haram to Cost $30m

11 Jun 2015 Article.  By a Citizen.

President Muhammadu Buhari

•   Buhari meets service chiefs, discusses operational contributions for MNJTF

Jaiyeola Andrews and Senator Iroegbu with agency report
  
The base of a multinational military offensive against Boko Haram will cost some $30 million over the next year, the head of a regional security grouping said yesterday in Nigeria, appealing for help.

His comments came as defence ministers and military chiefs from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin — which will contribute military personnel, police and civilians to the Multi-national Joint Task Force (MNJTF) — met in Abuja Tuesday to thrash out plans to take on the militants.

President Muhammadu Buhari has made stopping Boko Haram’s bloody, six-year insurgency a top priority, and today will meet with his regional counterparts in a high-level summit on the issue in Abuja.

Preparatory to the regional summit, Buhari met on Wednesday with security and service chiefs in Abuja.

“The total amount required to set up and sustain the MNJTF headquarters for the next 12 months is about $30 million (27 million euros),” said Sanusi Imran Abdullahi, head of the Lake Chad Basin Commission security grouping that includes Nigeria and nearby countries.

“The troop-contributing countries are responsible for equipping and sustenance of their battalion.”

The long-awaited task force, which has its headquarters in Chad’s capital N’Djamena under a senior Nigerian officer, was originally due to have been operational in November.

In the meantime, troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroun have been fighting Boko Haram insurgents in northeast Nigeria for several months and have claimed a series of successes.

But since Buhari took office on May 29, Boko Haram attacks have risen with 12 recorded and a total of 109 people killed, according to AFP.
Abdullahi said it was crucial to quickly deploy the force to “sustain the offensive on the Boko Haram terrorist group who should not be given the time and space to regroup, as this may constitute a much more potent threat than we witnessed”.

He appealed to other regional groupings to contribute resources to help fight the insurgency, which has left at least15,000 people dead.

Ahead of today’s meeting, Buhari yesterday met with service and security chiefs behind closed doors at the Defence House, Abuja. It was his second meeting with the service chiefs in less than two weeks.
The agenda of the meeting, THISDAY learnt from security sources, was on how to step up action against the dreaded Islamist sect.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Aliyu Ismaila, who briefed State House correspondents, said they came to brief Buhari on the meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, which will be attended by heads of state of Benin, Cameroun, Chad and Niger today.

“The arrangement is that the meeting held between the Chiefs of Defence Staff and Minister of Defence of the Lake Chad Basin will be culminating in the heads of government meeting tomorrow (Thursday).
“We discussed the issue of the operationalisation of the Multi-national Joint Task Force and the citing of its headquarters in N'Djamena and the contributions from various states.

“This is with the objective of fighting the insurgency within that region. Some issues came up that the president identified; he wants us to see the end of this fight for the purpose of peace, security and prosperity of the region,” Ismaila said.

Meanwhile, the Beninoise President, Mr. Thomas Boni Yayi, has said that the countries waging a regional fight against Boko Haram will take significant steps towards establishing the joint task force when they meet today in Abuja.

Nigeria's neighbours have been urging closer coordination and the deployment of a joint task force, headquartered in the Chadian capital N'Djamena. But diplomats say the process has been slowed down by reservations about foreign troops operating on Nigerian soil and by its presidential election in March.

Yayi, according to Reuters, said Buhari was “very determined” to end the insurgency.

“The discussions we have had with him reassure us,” he told reporters after talks with French President Francois Hollande in Paris. “We are going to put an end to this odious phenomenon. This summit will be decisive.”

Benin has not deployed any troop against Boko Haram yet, but has agreed in principle to join the force.

Yayi said this could begin once the UN Security Council passed a resolution, which has been in discussion for several months, endorsing the mission.

“These are international rules and, once it is passed, there won't be any more obstacles,” he said.