ABUJA: Nigeria and its regional allies yesterday called for greater international support to shut down Boko Haram’s weapons and funding supply as concern mounted at the group’s rapid recent land grab.
The call came after conflicting reports that the militants had seized another town, prompting warnings that Nigeria was losing control of the northeast and violence could spill across borders.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Aminu Wali said his counterparts from Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger recognised the need for a more joined-up approach to curb arms trafficking and spiralling violence during a day of talks on the security crisis.
“(The meeting) called for greater co-operation of the international community to assist in tracking these sources with a view to putting an end to these practices and all forms of illegal transfer of arms and ammunition,” he told reporters in Abuja.
Nigeria’s neighbours vowed to play a greater role in tackling the Islamists after the abduction of more than 200 girls from their school in northeast Nigeria in April, which caused global outrage.
International intelligence and surveillance specialists and equipment were sent to Abuja to help trace the missing teenagers, 219 of whom are still being held captive.
But nearly five months on, Western diplomats have indicated that there has been little progress, despite a claim from Nigeria’s military that they had located the girls.
Boko Haram has in recent weeks taken and held swathes of territory in northeast Nigeria in a departure from their previous hit-and-run tactics. On Monday, the militants reportedly took over the town of Bama, 70km from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, sending hundreds of soldiers fleeing.
The military disputes the claims, but the fighting has raised fears that Boko Haram has the city in its sights and aims to make it the centre of a separate, hardline Islamic state.
The Nigeria Security Network of analysts said Nigeria’s northeast was “on the brink” of coming under Boko Haram control, which could see parts of Cameroon being overrun and spark a humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, residents, a police officer in the Cameroon town of Amchide and a Nigerian lawmaker said the militants took control of the town of Banki in Borno state on Tuesday.
AFP
