Nigeria seeks Niger Republic’s support to battle Boko Haram

Nigeria is seeking the support of Niger Republic to halt cross border movement by Boko Haram men being dislodged from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states where a military operation is ongoing.

Niger, along with Chad and Cameroun border the three states which are under a state of emergency.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nurudeen Muhammed on Monday night delivered the request for help from President Goodluck Jonathan to his Nigerien counterpart, Mahamadou Issoufou, in Niamey.

“We currently have military operations under way in Nigeria in three federal states to combat terrorism and we would like to have Niger’s support in the common fight against these terrorists,” Muhammed told Nigerien television.

Nigeria and Niger signed a bilateral defence pact in October 2012 that includes sharing intelligence on Islamist groups and joint military exercises.

The deal stipulates that a request for military aid by one nation cannot be refused by the other.

Nigeria and Niger share a porous frontier of more than 1,500 km (940 miles). The fighting in the northeast has pushed more than a thousand refugees across the border into Niger in the past few weeks, according to United Nations (UN) estimates.

Soldiers from Niger and Chad participated with Nigerian forces in a joint assault on Boko Haram fighters last month in Baga, a fishing settlement on the shores of Lake Chad.

 

 

 

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