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Raids on Boko Haram Disclosed as Abuja Summit Targets Terrorism

by Isabela Cocoli May 14, 2016

Multinational forces fighting the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram arrested five of the group's leaders and freed dozens of captive women and children, Cameroon's government said Saturday.

The raids targeting Boko Haram bases in the northern Madawaya forest earlier this month freed 28 children and at least 18 women, according to a government spokesman.

The news came as a summit to discuss regional security and strategies to fight Boko Haram was underway in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

In his opening remarks, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said about $1 billion was needed to help development in the Lake Chad region in order to "eradicate the causes" that "proliferate terrorism."

Buhari said that the "main problem now is rehabilitation" of destroyed infrastructure such as schools, health clinics, roads and bridges, as well as attending to displaced people, most of them women and children.

French President Francois Hollande said it was essential that the international community do more for the region, warning about the humanitarian situation of the countries of the Lake Chad Basin – mainly Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon – under attack from Boko Haram.

Noting the achievements of Nigeria under Buhari in the fight against Boko Haram, Hollande said that although the terrorist group had been weakened and forced to retreat, it still remained a threat.

Pledging full support of his country against the extremist group, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was imperative to maintain the momentum to win the war against Boko Haram and build the right conditions for stability in the region.

Addressing the summit, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was of paramount importance that Boko Haram be defeated not only militarily but also ideologically.

Blinken said Washington was "deeply committed" to helping the military effort and also to reconstruction, but the "victory on the battlefield is not enough."

A "sustained and comprehensive approach" is needed to combat extremist ideology, reconstruct shattered communities and investigate multiple claims of human rights abuses against armies involved, Blinken said.

Besides the U.S. and the European Union officials, the summit brought together Buhari's counterparts from around the region.

In 2014, Boko Haram captured swaths of territory in Nigeria and declared a self-styled caliphate.The next year, it declared allegiance to the Islamic State. Since Buhari became the president of Nigeria, the army has stepped up military actions against Boko Haram, leading the president to announce that the Islamist group had been "technically" defeated.

Boko Haram's insurgency has spilled beyond Nigeria's borders. Attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger have claimed at least 20,000 lives and forced more than 2.6 million people to flee their homes, including 300,000 children.

Reporter Saleh Shehu Ashaka and VOA's Hausa service contributed to this report.