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From Timothy Olanrewaju Maiduguri
Force Commander, Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Maj Gen Abdul-Khalifa Ibrahim has earned troops of the regional forces against complacency in the fight against Boko Haram around the Lake Chad area despite recent mass surrendering of insurgents.
Gen Ibrahim gave the warning during an operational visits to troops of Sector 1 Moura in Cameroon and Sector 2 Bagasola in Chad midweek, MNJTF spokesman, Col Mohammed Dole said in a statement sent to Daily Sun from Ndjamena, Chad’s capital and headquarters of the force.
“It is a welcome development and we shall continue to encourage them to surrender and come out with their weapons. But let me warn against complacency by troops. We must remain on high alert and be very cautious when dealing with the surrendered insurgents,” the commander said.
He charged troops to abide by the international law building surrendering insurgents, terrorists and other forms of war fighters.
He assured that the MNJTF under his watch would take the battle to Boko Haram enclave and hideouts around the Lake Chad shores. He urged troops to step up their fighting spirit and commitment to return peace to the area.
He commended troops for their doggedness and patriotism to the goals and objectives of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) jointly establshed by member contries including Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin Republic.
The MNJTF was reorganised by countries of the LCBC and became operational mid 2015. It was established to return peace to the Lake Chad area which spread from the northearn part of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa states to Chad, Niger and Cameroon, a brief from the force said.
It was also designed to ensure smooth implementation of the stabilization process in the Lake Chad region.
The force headquarters is located in Ndjamena, Chad capital with three sectoral base at Moura, Cameroon (Sector1), Bagasola in Chad (Sector 2) and Monguno in Borno, Nigeria (Sector 3). A couple of Nigerian army officers including the current Chief of Army Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, have head the force as field commander.
