By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja
The President of Chad Republic, Marshal Idris Deby Itno, on Saturday said terrorism remained an issue in the Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel region of Africa because the crusade against it has not been adequate.
President Itno was at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa Abuja on a one-day official visit, during which he had bilateral discussions with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Responding to questions from State House Correspondents after the meeting with President Buhari, President Itno said that the four countries sharing the Lake Chad Basin had put together a formidable military formation, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), to stamp out terrorism in the region, but lamented that the formation had not been carrying out enough required operations.
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According to him, he discussed the situation at the MNJTF with President Buhari, saying a situation where the joint military outfit embarks on just one operation in a whole year had made the fight difficult and defeating the terrorists rather impossible.
He, however, expressed optimism that with the new strategies being deployed and new officers with fresh ideas being assigned to take over commands at both national and regional levels, the defeat of the various terror groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State, West African Province (ISWAP), the menace should be addressed permanently.
“However, with the new security apparatus that has been put in place with the new security chiefs and not only in Nigeria, but even on the Multinational Joint Task Force itself, which also has a new leadership, that we’re hopeful now that with new strategies, and new dynamism, that we’ll be able to address definitively the issue of Boko Haram.”
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