PARIS (Reuters) - Countries waging a regional
fight against the Nigerian Islamist militant group
Boko Haram will take significant steps towards
establishing a joint task force when they meet on
Thursday in Abuja, Benin's president said.
Boko Haram has killed thousands and displaced
around 1.5 million people during a six-year
insurgency, seeking to establish an Islamic
emirate and extending its reach into
neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.
At start of the year, it controlled territory about
the size of Belgium in northeast Nigeria, but a
loosely coordinated offensive by Nigeria's army
and troops from Chad, Cameroon and Niger has
pushed it out of most of those areas.
Nigeria's neighbours have been urging closer
coordination and the deployment of a joint task
force, headquartered in the Chadian capital
N'Djamena. But diplomats say the process has
been slowed down by Nigeria's reservations about
foreign troops operating on its soil and by its
presidential election in March.
Benin's Thomas Boni Yayi said the new president,
Muhammadu Buhari, was "very determined".
"The discussions we have had with him reassure
us," he told reporters after talks with French
President Francois Hollande in Paris. "We are
going to put an end to this odious phenomenon
... This summit will be decisive."
The defence chiefs of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon,
Chad and Benin were meeting in Abuja on
Tuesday to lay the groundwork for the task force.
Benin has not deployed any troops against Boko
Haram yet, but has agreed in principle to join the
force.
Yayi Boni said this could begin once the U.N.
Security Council passed a resolution, which has
been in discussion for several months, endorsing
the mission.
"These are international rules and, once it is
passed, there won't be any more obstacles," he
said.