Roundup: Nigeria to host headquarters of regional intelligence unit to fight Boko Haram

Nigeria has agreed to host the headquarters of the Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit (RIFU) of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to fight the extremist group Boko Haram, an official said.

The establishment of the Unit in Abuja, the country's capital city was important to totally defeat the insurgents operating in the Republic of Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said at the event on Friday, where he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Onyeama also decried the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents in the West African sub-region.

According to him, the Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit is something that was created within the framework of the intelligence of the insurgency that this country and neighboring countries have been facing.

"In coordination with some of our country supporters like France, it was decided to institutionalize the sharing of intelligence among the front line states engaged in the battle against Boko Haram," he added.

"It was agreed that in institutionalizing this intelligence sharing cooperation mechanism a headquarters should be established," the minister told his audience.

The minister said the formal establishment of the headquarters of the Unit in Abuja was a very important step in the battle against extremism and terrorism.

"We know that beyond the classical military confrontation, one of the most important weapons that we have in fighting terrorism and insurgency worldwide is intelligence sharing," he said.

Onyeama pledged Nigeria's commitment to supporting the RIFU to make it a success.

"As we are the host of this international organisation, we will do everything possible to make sure that your residence in our country is a happy one," he added.

Earlier, the Coordinator of RIFU, Dennis Myntia, from Cameroon, said Boko Haram could not be defeated without intelligence sharing and commended Nigeria's contributions to the Unit.

Myntia said the Unit had operatives in all the member-countries who were inter-linked and sharing intelligence all the time.

He said the MoU was a proof that Nigeria was determined to go all out to end security challenge in the country and all over the world.

Boko Haram, Nigeria's militant Islamist group which has wreaked havoc through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions, is fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state. Endit