Nigeria president visits Cameroon to discuss militant threat

Both leaders posed for photo shoots before moving to the third floor office of the President of the Republic of Cameroon for discussions that lasted one hour, forty minutes.

The increased threat represented by Boko Haram, sparked the creation of a regional force by the members of the Lake Chad basin commission (Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Benin and Niger).

Earlier Tuesday, 11 Boko Haram militants were killed in clashes with the military in a village in southern Borno state, a local resident and a member of the militia fighting alongside the army said.

The group has stepped up attacks in countries around the lake in recent months in response to a regional offensive by Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger to subdue the six-year-old insurgency.

The Nigerian Air Force has announced that it has succeeded in blocking routes through which petroleum products and other materials are supplied to the Boko Haram insurgents.

“This bipartisan legislation would signal a renewed congressional commitment to pursuing Boko Haram and bolster U.S. efforts throughout the region”.

The Nigerian presidency said the talks would focus on the activation and deployment of this force.

Buhari will meet with Benin counterpart, Boni Yayi after a similar visit to Cameroon on Wednesday, July 29, 2015.

Relations between Nigeria and Cameroon have been fraught for years because of territorial disputes, in particular over the Bakassi peninsula.

The announcement came as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was in Cameroon in a bid to forge a stronger regional alliance against the Islamists.

In the past, Abuja has accused Yaounde of dragging its feet over tackling Boko Haram, which analysts say established rear bases on the Cameroonian side of the Mandara mountains.

“It’s better to prevent danger”, a security source said, adding that “a growing number of women and young girls are wearing the full veil in Diffa”.

A Reuters tally showed that more than 600 people had been killed in Nigeria alone since President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration at the end of May, when he promised to make getting rid of Boko Haram his top priority.