Politics

Chiefs of defence staff of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Republic of Benin have taken part in a special meeting in Yaounde that evaluated the activities of the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram.The high level forum, which is the first ever since the force fully went operation in 2015, was presided over by Cameroon’s Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo.

The security bosses made frank proposals aimed at efficiently eradicating the Boko Haram terrorist group. Minister Beti Assomo saluted the collaboration and strong cohesion between the different deployments that are fighting the Nigerian Islamic sect phenomenon in three different sectors. Joseph Beti Assomo said decisions taken at the Yaounde meeting will mark a mile stone in the fight against terrorism. 

The conference revealed that Boko Haram has been reduced to uncoordinated attacks, landmines and suicide bombings. The Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Sanusi Imran Abdullahi in his keynote address attributed the successes recorded by the Multinational Joint Task Force to high level of engagement and synergy between troops of the different countries involved.

Some of the key issues handled during the security discourse included amendments to some provisions of the organic text of the force and the reorganisation of the sectors of country as well as intelligence sharing.

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CRTV

02.Apr.2016

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Adama Simila wears a knife tied to his belt by a piece of rope, his only protection against Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamist insurgents who have repeatedly targeted his home town in remote northern Cameroon. While the threat once came from heavily armed, battle-hardened jihadists crossing from neighbouring Nigeria, today Simila knows he is more likely to die at the hands of a teenage girl strapped with explosives. "We're here to look out for suicide bombers," said the 31-year-old, a member of a local civilian defence force in the town of Kerawa. After watching its influence spread during a six-year campaign that has killed around 15 000 people according to the US military, Nigeria has now united with its neighbours to stamp out Boko Haram.

A regional offensive last year drove the insurgents from most of their traditional strongholds, denying them their dream of an Islamic emirate in north-eastern Nigeria. An 8 700-strong regional force of troops from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria is seeking to finish the job. Now, increasingly on the back foot, Boko Haram is retaliating with a deadly guerrilla campaign against civilians, and ordinary people like Simila have become the last line of defence. "I'm not scared. They are people, we are also people. We must die to live," said Simila, who was at the Kerawa market in September when two girls detonated themselves, killing 19 people and injuring 143 others. 

A nearly identical bombing at the same market followed in January. Outside Nigeria, Cameroon has been hardest hit by Boko Haram, which now operates out of bases in the Mandara Mountains, Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad -- areas straddling the borders between Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger. Since August 2014, the sect has carried out 336 attacks in Cameroon, according to the Cameroonian army, which has lost 57 of its own men while defending the north. Of 34 recorded suicide bombings killing 174 people, 80% were carried out by girls and young women aged 14 to 24 years. Girls abused as sex slaves by the group are psychologically damaged and therefore more vulnerable, the army says. Boko Haram also uses girls because they are thought less likely to arouse suspicion, although that may be changing now.

"The goal now is to stop Boko Haram incursions into villages, stop them from planting IEDs, and stop suicide bombings," said Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Tetcha, a senior officer in the army's operation against Boko Haram. Cameroon has thrown vast resources into protecting the north. In total nearly 10 000 of its troops are deployed against Boko Haram. The army's Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR), comprised of its most professional, best equipped soldiers, patrols a high-risk 400km stretch of the border with Nigeria. The US military backs them with equipment, training and intelligence gathered from American drones flown out of a base in the town of Garoua.

A Reuters reporter saw a small American military camp inside another BIR base in nearby Maroua. Still, the terrain is mountainous and Boko Haram has rigged many roads with explosives designed to kill soldiers. Army officers are convinced that some fighters from Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to Islamic State last year, have been trained at IS camps in Libya. Armed incursions by Boko Haram fighters have dropped. But the army does not have enough soldiers to deploy in every town in northern Cameroon, and suicide bombers strike regularly, often several times in a single week.

"The border is under control, but it's still very porous," said Lieutenant-Colonel Emile Nlaté Ebalé, head of operations and logistics for the BIR's mission in the north. Faced with such an asymmetrical threat, Cameroon's army has turned to so-called vigilance committees for help. As the blazing midday sun beat down on Kerawa, Bouba Ahmada walked along a dry, scrub-lined creek bed, an ancient flintlock musket slung around his neck. "Here is Cameroon, over there is Nigeria," he said, gesturing towards the abandoned homes just across the dusty expanse. "It's empty. Only Boko Haram stays there." Made up of men and boys armed with machetes, home-made rifles or bows and arrows, these self-defence forces have the blessing of the local government. They accompany the army on patrols and intelligence gathering missions, question travellers, and denounce to the military anyone deemed suspect.

Last week they intercepted two female suicide bombers and handed them over to the army before they were able to detonate. "We are not 100% dependent on this information, but this information is crucial," said Lieutenant-Colonel Tetcha, who is not only defending Cameroon but also a growing number of Nigerians. Close to the border sits the UN-run Minawao camp, home to nearly 57 000 refugees who have fled Boko Haram in Nigeria. "Everybody suffers in this place," said James Zapania, a 24-year-old camp resident from Gwoza, Nigeria. "We're not worried about Boko Haram coming here, we're worried about food." Refugees like Zapania often receive a chilly welcome from suspicious local villagers, many of whom view them as collaborators or even underground Boko Haram fighters.

According to one Cameroonian officer, the army has removed a number of individuals from Minawao for "activities not in line with the behaviour of a normal refugee". Suspicion is everywhere. And while Boko Haram infiltrators make up only a tiny portion of fleeing refugees, many, including the Cameroonian military, fear that desperation provides fertile ground for recruitment. "We need to act quickly. There are young people with no work who could be vulnerable. When people are hungry, they are easily approached," said Colonel Didier Badjeck, a Cameroonian military spokesman.

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Reuters

02.Apr.2016

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The Western military alliance, NATO, has no justification for its existence because there is no immediate threat to the US and Europe, a former US Senate policy adviser and diplomat says. “There is no power, there is no threat against which these countries need deterrence,” said James Jatras, who is also a specialist in international relations and legislative politics in Washington.

“This is simply another failed justification for the role of NATO which frankly should have gone out of business after the end of the Cold War,” Jatras said on Friday. “It is an example of how bureaucracies try to justify their existence long past when such justifications were valid,” he added. “This is simply more dangerous brinksmanship, more dangerous over-extension of American power into Eastern Europe to no good end,” Jatras noted.

On Thursday, a top US general said the United States and NATO are switching their defense doctrine from assurance to deterrence in Eastern Europe over Russia’s behavior. US General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in the Latvian capital Riga that the West faces "a resurgent and aggressive Russia." "We are prepared to fight and win if we have to... our focus will expand from assurance to deterrence, including measures that vastly improve our overall readiness," Breedlove said after holding talks with Baltic region NATO commanders.

His comments come a day after the Pentagon said it would begin continuous rotations of an additional armored brigade of about 4,200 troops in Eastern Europe beginning next year. Russia has repeatedly warned against the permanent positioning of substantial forces along its border. The US and its allies accuse Moscow of supporting the Russian-speaking fighters in eastern Ukraine, and supplying their troops with military aid, reinforcements, and resources, allegations the Kremlin denies.

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Presstv

01.Apr.2016

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Boko Haram leadership has announced in a new video their intention to continue carrying out deadly attacks in Nigeria. This time around, the video was carefully mounted and a spokesperson revealed they plan to foster their activities under the direct supervision of Abubakar Shekau. 

In the 12 minutes message, a man surrounded by eight armed individuals said in the Hausa language that there will be no negotiations and no surrender. This video resurfaced a week after one showing the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau appearing weak and pretending to announce that his end is near.

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Chi Prudence Asong

01.Apr.2016

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The Yaounde authorities have banned a public ceremony to honor victims of the Boko Haram war. Jean Paul Tsanga Foe, the prefect of Yaoundé I, on Thursday ordered the forces of law and order to disperse a crowd that had gathered to pay homage to over 1,200 victims of Boko Haram atrocities.

The Divisional Officer noted that the organizers were simply disturbing public order. Some political commentators have opined that its now unclear whether the April 1, 2016 rally summoned by a group of opposition parties in Yaounde will hold as announced. 

It is vital to include in the report that 48 hours after the DO placed the ban, he granted permission to some members of the ruling CPDM party to stage a public meeting calling on President Biya to run for president.

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Sama Ernest in Yaounde

01.Apr.2016

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A special security meeting grouping Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Commission of the Lake Chad Basin and Benin has opened on Friday in Yaounde. The Joint Multinational Force of the Commission of the Lake Chad Basin (LCBC) and Benin will examine the job done so far in combating the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

The meeting holding at the Congress Hall in Yaounde is being attended by senior officials of the defense forces of member countries of the LCBC and Benin including the commander of the Joint Multinational Force (FMM), Major General Lo Adeosun. The forum also aims at evaluating military strategy, self-criticism, adjustment and remobilization. 

In his opening remarks, Cameroon’s Joint Chief of Army Staff, Rene Claude Meka, revealed that some adjustments were needed on basis of the realities on the ground. Nigeria’s Major General Adeosun hinted that some proposals have been made to be approved referring particularly to the divisions of certain sectors.

The Friday discussions includes coordination and liaison between FMM and domestic operations and necessary adaptation of the concept of operations received from the civilian authorities of member countries of the LCBC and Benin.

The military leaders also observed that proposals for financial support for the Force were made at a high political level. But many promises have not yet been realized. A delegation of the African Union is to stay in N'Djamena to try to accelerate the process of release of funds.

Meanwhile, FMM suggested the deployment of its police unit. This unit remained in reserve, waiting for the right moment which is already recognized. The leaders have agreed that the MMF Police Unit must urgently establish the authority of the state in the areas that were occupied by Boko Haram.

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Rita Akana in Yaounde

01.Apr.2016

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