As Nigeria’s Joint Task Force continues to intensify
efforts to bring the insurgency in northern parts of the country to an
end, the United Nations has explained why the Nigerian government cannot
fight the insurgency alone.
Making the statement on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian
capital, was Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, the UN envoy for the Sahel
region.
According to Sellassie,
Nigeria
must accept that it cannot defeat Boko Haram fighters alone, and work with regional armies in a new multinational force.
This comes after Nigerian security officials, including the national security adviser,
Sambo Dasuki,
a few weeks ago ruled out the need for a United Nations or African
Union-backed force to fight Boko Haram, saying the country and its
partners could handle the threat.
More than 13,000 people have been killed and more than
one million made homeless by Boko Haram violence since 2009.
Hiroute Guebre Sellassie.
“Nigeria cannot handle the problem alone, Boko Haram is not only confined to Nigeria,”
Sellassie told AFP in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where the
African Union is preparing for leaders of the 54-member bloc to hold a
summit on Friday.
“We see a flood of refugees to Niger, Cameroon and even Chad,” she added, warning of a possible training camp in northern Mali.
“The Sahel is increasingly affected,” she said.
Nigeria has the largest army in West Africa, but has come under
criticism at home and abroad for failing to stop the advance of Boko
Haram.
