Coming on the heels of the various insurgences in Nigeria, three West Africa states have volunteered to join forces with Nigeria to mobilize a joint force to tackle the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram Islamist militants operating mainly in Nigeria.
T he three states Niger, Chad, Cameroon including Nigeria is due to put forward 700 men to the force.
The four countries, whose borders meet at Lake Chad, an area that is a Boko Haram stronghold, already share intelligence and coordinate border security in the zone, but mobilizing a regional force on this scale would be a major escalation. The announcement was made after a meeting of the defence ministers from the four countries, but no details on the timing or location of the deployment were given.