African armies said too weak to stem Boko Haram’s advance

LONDON — Boko Haram’s campaign of abduction and terror has spread beyond Nigeria to become a regional threat that African armies lack the strength to defeat, experts warned Monday.

The Islamist gunmen struck across Nigeria’s eastern border into Cameroon on Sunday, raiding two villages and taking about 80 people captive.

Boko Haram routinely sells its prisoners into slavery. The latest incident was the biggest case of mass abduction recorded in Cameroon.

Cameroon’s national army claimed to have rescued about 20 of the captives Monday, but it has only 12,500 soldiers. A force of 7,000 troops has been deployed in the far north region where Boko Haram’s raids have taken place.

“Cameroon’s forces have been quite proactive in tackling Boko Haram and the Cameroon government has been critical of the Nigerian government for not doing enough,” said Virginia Comolli, the author of Boko Haram: Nigeria’s Islamist Insurgency.

But she questioned whether Cameroon was capable of protecting itself, pointing out that the country had accepted military reinforcements from neighbouring Chad. “The fact that already the Chadians have become involved indicates that a regional approach is needed. One country alone is not going to be able to handle this issue,” Comolli said.

Britain and France have helped negotiate the creation of a multinational task force to fight Boko Haram, comprised of soldiers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

So far, this new unit has made no difference. All four countries stand in the path of Boko Haram’s advance and play host to thousands of refugees, but they have not yet mounted a co-ordinated military operation. Despite facing a common threat, the governments concerned appear too mistrustful to join forces against the Islamists.

Boko Haram now controls about 52,000 square kilometres of Nigeria. From this secure base, its gunmen now appear to have decided to conquer northern Cameroon. Most of the group’s leaders, including Abubakar Shekau, are from the Kanuri ethnic group, whose homeland spans the border between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Comolli said Boko Haram had not achieved outright control over areas of Cameroon, but warned that this was the “trajectory they are now on.”