African armies need help against Boko Haram, experts say

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

The gunmen struck across Nigeria’s eastern border into Cameroon on Sunday, raiding two villages and taking about 80 people captive. The latest incident was the biggest case of mass abduction ever recorded in Cameroon.

The national army claimed to have rescued about 20 of the captives on Monday. But Cameroon’s army has only 12,500 soldiers to protect a country almost twice the size of Britain.

A force of 7,000 troops – more than half of the entire army – 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,” said Ms Comolli. Britain and France have helped to negotiate the creation of a multinational task force to fight Boko Haram, comprised of soldiers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The gunmen now control about 20,000 square miles of Nigeria. From this secure base, they appear to have decided to conquer northern Cameroon. Most of Boko Haram’s leaders – including Abubakar Shekau, – are from the Kanuri ethnic group, whose homeland spans the border between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Boko Haram’s fighters possess armoured personnel carriers and “technicals” – Land Cruisers mounted with heavy machine guns. On paper, however, the Nigerian army has the military strength to outclass the insurgents.

Ben Barry, a specialist on land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that “corruption” and “nepotism” had prevented Nigeria’s army from using its superior firepower to contain Boko Haram.