BUHARI LEAVES FOR CAMEROON,BENIN REPUBLIC

President Muhammadu Buhari will continue his ongoing effort to build a more effective regional coalition against Boko Haram with a visit to Yaounde tomorrow for talks with President Paul Biya and senior Cameroonian Government officials.

The talks between President Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart are expected to focus on the full activation and deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, which has been established under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.


President Buhari, who will be accompanied on the two-day trip by six state governors as well as the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Defence and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, will also discuss further joint measures to curb terrorism, violent extremism and other cross-border crimes with President Biya and Cameroonian government officials.

The State Governors on the President’s entourage are Alhaji Mohammed Bindow of Adamawa State, Mr. Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima of Borno State, Mr. Ben Ayade of Cross River State and Mr. Darius Ishaku of Taraba State.

President Buhari will also use the opportunity of his visit to Yauonde to meet with Nigerians living in Cameroon.

The President, who is due back in Abuja on Thursday, will undertake a one-day trip to Benin Republic on Saturday for talks with President Boni Yayi to round-off the diplomatic shuttles to neighbouring countries, which he embarked upon on assumption of office to strengthen regional cooperation against terrorism and make it much harder for Boko Haram to operate across national boundaries.