President has sought the
assistance of the neighbouring Niger Republic in combating the Boko Haram
menace.
Reuters reports that the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Nurudeen
Muhammed, delivered the request for help from President Goodluck Jonathan to
his Nigerien counterpart, Mahamadou Issoufou, late on Monday in Niamey.
“We currently have military
operations under way in Nigeria in three federal states to combat terrorism and
we would like to have Niger’s support in the common fight against these
terrorists,” Muhammed, according to Reuters, told Niger State
television.
Two thousand villagers who fled from
the military offensive in Borno State at the weekend reportedly headed for
Niger Republic and there had been concerns that many members of the violent
sect troubling the peace in the North-East were illegal aliens from
neighbouring countries, including Niger.
Niger Republic is a landlocked
country with a population slightly above 17 million citizens, who are mostly
Muslims. It borders Nigeria in the north. A check on Wikipeadia on Tuesday
revealed that Niger Armed Forces totalled 12,000 personnel with approximately
3,700 gendarmes, 300 air force, and 6,000 army personnel.
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