Boko Haram made its first big impact by attacking the United Nations headquarters in Abuja on 11 June 2011 killing at least 18 people.
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Authorities in Niger’s Diffa area, on the border with Nigeria, have banned the full Islamic veil following suicide attacks in countries in the region by women wearing the religious garment, an official said on Wednesday.
An African Union-mandated, 8,700-strong regional taskforce, headquartered in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, was due to start operations at the end of this month but has been delayed by questions over funding.
Major General Iliya Abbah, who previously headed military operations in the oil-rich Niger Delta, will head the new force, a military spokesman said.
As per Markus Yohana, a local militia member fighting the Islamist in Dille in Borno State, north eastern Nigeria, their village had been attacked by the Boko Haram gunmen.
The movement also forces young teenage girls and women to become suicide bombers.
This justifies the fact that before coming to Cameroon, the Nigerian leader visited Chad, Niger and the USA to lobby support in the fight against the terrorist group.
Buhari is expected to visit Benin on Saturday.
The Nigerian Air Force has announced that its patrol and surveillance activities have succeeded in blocking routes through which petroleum products and other materials are supplied to the extremist Boko Haram sect. This is to say that the capacity to contain or dismantle Boko Haram henceforth will be an important parameter and barometer with which to judge the realization of the government in Nigeria.
Cameroonian Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakari said Boko Haram had switched to attacking civilian targets because it was no longer capable of military engagements.
The wave of violence has claimed 830 lives in just two months, dealing a setback to a four-country offensive launched in February that had chalked up a number of victories against the jihadists.
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Now the neighbours are uniting in a desperate fight against Boko Haram fighters and their campaign to impose strict Islamic law.
