Jonathan flys to Paris To Mobilise Joint Action on Bokoharam

President Goodluck Jonathan will on Friday travel to Paris, France to participate in a security summit convened by President Francois Hollande where fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in West and Central Africa will be mapped out.

A statement by presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati noted that Jonathan would be joined at the summit by heads of state and government of Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

“It is also expected that Britain, the United States of America and the European Union will be represented at the talks which will give special attention to the coordination and intensification of efforts to curtail the destabilising activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the wake of the recent abduction of college girls from Chibok, Borno State,” Abati stated.

He further said President Jonathan, “who will be accompanied by the Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd.), the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) as well as other principal aides and advisers, will return to Abuja at the conclusion of the summit on Saturday.”

Source: Leadership

A summit in Paris has agreed on a global and regional plan of action to combat the armed group Boko Haram, which has kidnapped more than 200 girls in Nigeria. The leaders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin pledged to share intelligence and co-ordinate action against the group.

The summit, hosted by French president Francois Hollande, also brought together representatives from the UK, US and EU.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan said Boko Haram was 'acting clearly as an al-Qaeda operation' and the threat it poses is now an international problem.

From the Nigerian capital Abuja, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports: "People here in Nigeria feel that the threat of Boko Haram will not disappear as long as the government does not deal with core issues that brought about the insurgency in the beginning. These include grinding poverty, unemployment and the unfair distribution of the country’s wealth."

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2014/05/boko-haram-dialogue-defeat-2014518145221861783.html