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Nigeria and Cameroon might clash over boko haram

Published

11 years ago

March 1, 2014

There are strong indications that Nigeria and Cameroon may clash
over Boko Haram as the Federal Government accuses Cameroon of
harbouring members of the militant Islamic sect.
Saturday PUNCH learnt on Thursday that the Federal
Government was becoming increasingly frustrated by the refusal of
Cameroon to cooperate with Nigeria in its efforts to combat the
militant Islamic sect.
A top source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who confided in one
of our correspondents in Abuja, said that President Goodluck
Jonathan would report Cameroon to relevant agencies in the United
Nations.
Part of government’s strategy is to adopt the policy of hot pursuit,
whereby Nigeria’s military will chase the insurgents into their
hideouts and flush them out while those in the diplomatic circles will
continue with diplomacy.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that this was one of the reasons why
Jonathan canvassed that countries should be allowed to chase fleeing
terrorists to other nations while addressing fellow African leaders
during Thursday’s International Conference on Human Security,
Peace and Development: Agenda for 21st Century Africa, in Abuja.
He had asked his colleagues to, as of necessity, change their collective
approach and work closely together to confront and defeat the
purveyors of hate who do not respect borders and boundaries.
He said, “Our architecture must recognise the fact that trans-border
criminals don’t respect boundaries while law enforcement agencies are
compelled to respect our international boundaries,’’ adding, “There
must be compromise on this if we must wipe out criminality and
trans-border crimes.
“While we respect our national boundaries, terrorists move in and out
of our borders, it’s now time that we should agree as African leaders
that an act of terror against one nation is an act of terror against all
nations.”
In a veiled reference to Cameroon, the President said, “We must not
allow our countries to become safe havens for terrorists; we must
cooperate maximally beyond political boundaries and adopt protocols
that allow other countries to pursue terrorists to their safe havens in
other nations.
“While we cannot redefine our borders we can redefine our collective
approach in fighting trans-boundary insurgencies.’’
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the Federal Government was of the
view that since the joint commissions had not yielded any positive fruit,
it should start looking towards a new direction.
“The best option is to involve the military and use the policy of hot
pursuit,’’ a foreign ministry source noted.
The Federal Government believes Cameroon has a history of
harbouring criminals that use its territory to destabilise Nigeria.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the Federal Government was
aware of Cameroon’s unexplainable indifference to Nigeria. One of
the sources said that as early as 1906, northern Nigeria suffered from
violence orchestrated by religious leaders whose roots were in northern
Cameroon.
It was further learnt that the Federal Government was disturbed
that Cameroon, unlike Niger and Chad, had been providing a safe
haven for fleeing Boko Haram members in northern Cameroon.
Nigeria’s frustrations were echoed by President Goodluck Jonathan,
who during the last presidential media chat, made a veiled reference to
contacts being made with Cameroon over Boko Haram.
According to a source, the 1906 Mahdist rebellion in Kano has an
imprint of such pseudo Islamic teachers.
The source recalled that Mallam Muhammadu Marwa, better known
as “Maitatsine” a Fulani native of Marwa, in northern Cameroon,
was driven from the northern commercial city of Kano back to
Cameroon by the Emir of Kano in 1962.
He further noted that Maitatsine returned to Nigeria in 1966 as a
Quranic teacher. “Marwa remained in the country recruiting and
indoctrinating gullible young men until he led an insurgency in the
1980s,’’ he added.
Commenting specifically on the Boko Haram insurgency, the source
said, “From all indications, there appears to be an unwritten
understanding between the sect members and Cameroonian security for