EU signs agreement to offer €50mn support against Boko Haram 

The European Union on Tuesday signed an agreement to offer €50 million as part of its support to the Lake Chad Basin Commission Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to fight and defeat Boko Haram as mandated by the African Union Peace and Security Council.
This was contained in a communiqué released by the EU mission in Abuja, which was jointly signed by Federica Mogherini, EU high representative/vice-president of the commission; Neven Mimica, EU commissioner for international cooperation and development; and Smail Chergui, AU commissioner for peace and security for your information and dissemination.
The support, which comes under the EU’s “African Peace Facility,” will allow for the construction and maintenance of the MNJTF headquarters in Ndjamena, as well as its sector headquarters in Cameroon and Niger.
The €50 million support will also provide transport and communication assets to the force headquarters, allowing for effective coordination and command of military operations.
These assets, including vehicles, aerial transportation and reconnaissance capacities, as well as a command, control, communication and information system, are expected to put the central command in a position to co-ordinate operations among troop-contributing countries in their respective territories.
The scope of the initiative is to prevent Boko Haram’s ability to move across borders when fighting uncoordinated bilateral operations.
This agreement comes at a time of renewed efforts by the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and Benin to eliminate the threat posed by the Boko Haram terrorist group and create conditions for the rehabilitation of the affected areas and people.
“We commend the countries of the region for the progress made over the past months in ensuring a coordinated regional response through the MNJTF. The agreement we have signed today will further strengthen the regional coordination of the response, the EU said the communiqué.
“We reiterate our strong mutual engagement to contribute to restore a safe and secure environment to the civilian population in the areas affected by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups,” the communiqué further read.
Attacks by Boko Haram, an Islamist terror group, have severely affected the North-east of Nigeria, the Republic of Chad, Cameroon and the Republic of Niger, as more than 13,000 people have been killed, while 2.5 million others have been internally displaced, and an estimated 250 000 more have fled to neighboring countries.
The escalation of violence has disrupted regional agricultural production and unsettled local markets, causing increasing malnutrition and starvation in the affected countries.