Boko Haram defeated after four years of war, says Cameroon leader

Cameroon’s president says Boko Haram has been defeated in the country, the first such announcement since he declared war on the terrorist group four years ago.

Paul Biya spoke during his first visit to the Far North region since 2012 as he campaigned on Saturday ahead of the 7 October election. The 85-year-old, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, has been in power since 1982 and is likely to win again as the fractured opposition has been unable to put forward a strong candidate.

Security is a major issue in Cameroon, a US and French military ally, as it also faces a bloody English-language separatist movement in the southwest and north-west.

Addressing a rally in Maroua, Mr Biya said he would focus on rebuilding what has been destroyed in the Far North “now that terrorism has been defeated”.

The region for years has been the target of suicide bombings and other attacks by Boko Haram terrorists who spilled over the border from Nigeria, where the extremist group is based. Nearly a quarter of a million people in Cameroon have been displaced.

Mr Biya warned residents to remain vigilant despite recent progress, including the reopening last month of 40 schools along the border.

Not everyone warmed to the president’s comments at the rally. Garga Haman Adji, candidate for the Alliance for Democracy and Development opposition party, said Mr Biya had abandoned the Far North and its people.

“Biya never visited to encourage the soldiers who fought to defeat Boko Haram. He never visited people suffering from terrorism and is now here to beg for votes,” Mr Garga said.

The fight against Boko Haram has raised questions about Cameroon’s security forces. Shocking videos that recently appeared online showed soldiers shooting defenceless civilians, including women with young children strapped to their back, Amnesty International said after expert analysis.

Cameroon’s government has announced several arrests related to one of the videos and said any alleged abuses would be investigated.

Mr Biya has not announced any campaign visits to the south-west and north-west where fighting between government forces and the anglophone separatists has killed nearly 400 people and sent nearly 200,000 civilians fleeing. A heavy military deployment and recent crackdown on suspected separatist hideouts, especially in the southwest, however, indicates that the president intends to visit in an effort to show the world that in spite of the tensions he remains in control.

Mr Biya last visited the southwest in 2014 and the northwest in 2010.