admin
KANO/YAOUNDE. – Boko Haram Islamists slit the throats of 10 fishermen in villages near Baga, on the shores of the Lake Chad in north-eastern Nigeria, a leading fisherman and a resident said yesterday. “On Monday around 16:00, Boko Haram attacked three villages on the shores of Lake Chad where they slaughtered 10 people, all of them fishermen,” Abubakar Gamandi, head of the fishermen’s union in Borno State, told AFP.
The account was confirmed by a local fisherman, Buhari Dan-Malam.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Nigeria and Cameroon pledged yesterday to improve the exchange of intelligence and security co-operation along their border in a bid to tackle Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
Concluding his first visit to Cameroon since he was elected in March, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya voiced support in a joint statement for a planned multinational task force to fight Boko Haram, which has sworn allegiance to Islamic State.
Buhari’s visit came after the Nigerian militant group launched a wave of attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger that has killed hundreds of people in the past two months.
The attacks follow a four-month military campaign by Nigeria, Chad and Niger that drove Boko Haram out of the towns of northeast Nigeria.
“The two heads of state note with satisfaction the weakening of the operational capabilities of Boko Haram,” read a joint statement in French. “They expressed their common determination to eradicate Boko Haram and in this respect agreed to intensify intelligence sharing between their security services.”
The 8 700-strong task force of five nations near Lake Chad – Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin – was due to start operations from July 31, but has been dogged by questions of funding, co-ordination and political will- AFP/Reuters.
Online Reporter