Military chiefs from the Lake Chad Basin Commission have
perfected plans to deploy 8,700 troops of the Multi National
Joint Task Force against the Boko Haram insurgents.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Col. Rabe Abubakar,
said in a statement on Tuesday that the move was made during
a meeting of the military chiefs in Ndjamena, Chad.
The meeting was attended by military chiefs from Cameroon,
Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin Republic, the Commander of the
MNJTF and other senior military officers.

Abubakar said, “The Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, Gen.
Gabriel Olonisakin, has visited Chad Republic where he joined
other regional military chiefs to deliberate on the agreement to
accelerate the deployment of the 8,700 strong Multi-National
Joint Task Force.

“The Chiefs of Defence Staff from the Lake Chad Basin
Commission member- countries met in N’Djamena, the capital
of Chad and finalised details of the deployment of a joint force to
fight the Boko Haram which has sworn allegiance to ISIS and
has killed hundreds of people through suicide bombings in the
last three months.”

He said that the CDS had been working hard to carry out the
directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to conclude the
counter-terrorism operation against the Boko Haram in three
months.

He added that the meeting discussed modalities for the
deployment of the troops of the MNJTF to two command posts
in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Abubakar added that a directive had been issued to officers on
secondment to the MNJTF to report immediately to their duty
posts.

He stressed that the Force Headquarters of the Task Force had
commenced operations.

Meanwhile, President Buhari on Tuesday did a critical
assessment of the ongoing anti-terrorism war and concluded
that his administration was on course.

Buhari said this during a joint press conference he had with
visiting President Boni Yayi of Benin Republic inside the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said his administration had identified its top priorities to
include security and economy.