A regional summit opened in Niger Tuesday aimed at stopping Boko Haram as the Islamist insurgents step up attacks both inside Nigeria and in neighbouring countries.
“The increase in strength of Boko Haram reflects our slowness and our inability to put up a robust response,” Niger’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum said at the talks in Niamey.
“We are watching, as was the case in Mali, the loss of sovereignty in Nigeria over large tracts of its territory and the exporting of the violence to neighbouring countries.”
Ministers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and Equatorial Guinea were due to attend, along with representatives from the US, the European Union, China and several other countries.
Leaders from Ghana and Chad have called for a unified effort in confronting the Islamist militants, whose insurgency has left 13,000 dead and forced 1.5 million from their homes since 2009.
Chad sent a convoy of troops and 400 military vehicles on Saturday into neighbouring Cameroon to fight Boko Haram, with Nigeria’s army widely criticised for failing to crush the militants.
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