Multinational task force set to unleash troops on B’Haram

The Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin have approved the deployment of national contingents to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) set up to persecute the war against the Boko Haram terrorist group.

It was agreed at an extraordinary summit in Abuja on Thursday that the deployment would be done by July 30.

In a communiqué released at the end of the summit presided over by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, the heads of government, including President Muhammadu Buhari, resolved that the national contingents be deployed under the operational command of the MNJTF Commander assisted by his Joint Headquarters.

A Nigerian, Maj.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, is presently the Force Commander.

According to the communiqué, the summit also approved three key positions of responsibility of the MNJTF headquarters.

The position of the Force Commander would be held by Nigeria, the Deputy Force Commander was zoned to Cameroon while the post of the Chief of Staff would be occupied by Chad.

While Nigeria will hold the office of the Force Commander until the end of the mission, the two remaining positions would be rotational every 12 months.

The summit also approved the immediate deployment of the MNJTF headquarters at N’Djamena (Chad) by implementing its human, logistic and financial requirements.

Meanwhile, President Buhari on Thursday kicked against a proposed guideline of the summit that recommended six months duration for change of the command and control structure of the MNJTF.

He urged his colleagues to allow Nigeria retain the position of the Force Commander of the MJTF throughout the period of the war against insurgency.

The President argued that military operations that are subjected to rapid change of command and control structures would not be efficient.

He said Nigeria should be allowed to retain the position of the commander since the country would be providing the bulk of the troops and the main theatre of the war is on Nigerian soil.

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