Nigeria, neighbours declare 'war' with Boko Haram terrorist group
Leaders of Nigeria and neighbouring countries pledge to cooperate in fighting militant group behind unsolved abduction of 276 schoolgirls
Nigeria and its neighbours yesterday declared war on Boko Haram and vowed to work together to combat the Islamic militants.
Meeting in Paris, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his counterparts from Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger approved an action plan designed to counter an organisation blamed for an attack on a Chinese work site on Friday and which has caused global outrage with its abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls.
"We have seen what this organisation is capable of," French President Francois Hollande said at the close of the half-day summit here. "When more than 200 young girls are being held in barbaric conditions with the prospect of being sold into slavery, there are no questions to be asked, only actions to be taken," Hollande added.
Watch: Nigerians react to Paris meeting on Boko Haram
"This group is armed, with heavy weapons of an unimaginable sophistication and the ability to use them," he said. The weapons came from chaotic Libya, and the training took place in Mali before the ouster of its al-Qaida linked Islamist leaders. As for the money, Hollande said its origins were murky.
The action plan would involve co-ordination of surveillance efforts, the sharing of intelligence and joint efforts to secure the porous borders in the region, Hollande said.