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Buhari Hosts France President, Others In Abuja (PHOTOS)

Published

5 years ago

May 14, 2016

Regional and Western powers gathered in Nigeria on Saturday for talks on quelling the threat from Boko Haram as the UN warned of the militants’ threat to African security and ties to the Islamic State group.

French President Francois Hollande told reporters after meeting his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja that “impressive” gains had been made against the Islamists by greater cooperation.

But he warned: “This terrorist group nevertheless remains a threat.”

Buhari has invited leaders from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, whose troops will make up a new regional force against Boko Haram, which has been pushed to northeast Nigeria’s borders around Lake Chad.

The 8,500-member force, which has African Union backing and is based in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena under a Nigerian general, was supposed to have deployed last July.