FRANCE: Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan says Islamist militant group Boko Haram are no longer a local threat but have become West Africa's al Qaeda

Record ID: 645164

  • Title: FRANCE: Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan says Islamist militant group Boko Haram are no longer a local threat but have become West Africa's al Qaeda
  • Date: 17th May 2014
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 17, 2014) (AGENCY POOL) GROUP ARRIVE AND SIT DOWN FOR PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: "The message we want to send is that we know the threat, it is serious, it is serious for the region, for Africa and so for Europe. We have deployed our military and intelligence system to find these young girls." TELEVISION CAMERAS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIAN PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN. SAYING: "Boko Haram is no longer the local terror group with some religious sentiment which started in Nigeria in 2002 to 2004. From 2009 to date it has changed and is operating clearly as an al Qaeda organisation, It can better be described as al Qaeda in west and central Africa. It's not longer the Boko Haram that came with the sentiments that western education is prohibited and that women must not go to school." GROUP ON STAGE FOR PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF CAMEROON, PAUL BIYA, SAYING: "The Boko Haram problem isn't just a Nigerian one; it has become a regional if not continental. We are here to declare war on Boko Haram and we will defeat these terrorists." GROUP ON STAGE FOR PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF CAMEROON, PAUL BIYA, SAYING: "We have put in place and we have the resources and combat units so it will be harder for Boko Haram to attack Cameroon, especially since we are coordinating with President Goodluck and all the other people who are here." HOLLANDE THANKS JOURNALISTS AND GROUP LEAVES STAGE
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Crime,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6JR01CCR6TK5774ROHFOUFGGI
  • Story Text: Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has kidnapped more than 200 female school students, is no longer a local threat but has become West Africa's al Qaeda, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Saturday (May 17).
    "Boko Haram is no longer the local terror group with some religious sentiment which started in Nigeria in 2002 to 2004. From 2009 to date it has changed and is operating clearly as an al Qaeda organisation, It can better be described as al Qaeda in west and central Africa. It's not longer the Boko Haram that came with the sentiments that western education is prohibited and that women must not go to school," Jonathan told a news conference in Paris following a meeting of West African leaders on the issue.
    French President Francois Hollande told the meeting that Boko Haram was now a threat to all Western and Central Africa - a point that was supported by reports of a suspected Boko Haram attack on a Chinese work site in Cameroon on Friday night (May 16).
    "The message we want to send is that we know the threat, it is serious, it is serious for the region, for Africa and so for Europe. We have deployed our military and intelligence system to find these young girls," President Hollande told the news conference.
    Although Boko Haram has been fighting for five years, carrying out many bombings and attacks on civilians as well as security forces, the kidnapping last month of more than 200 female students from a school in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, has focussed world attention on them.
    Outrage over the mass abduction prompted Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan - criticised at home for his government's slow response - to accept U.S., British and French intelligence help in the hunt for the girls.
    France, itself a target of Islamist militants for its military intervention against rebels in Mali, brought together Nigeria's neighbours Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, and Western officials for the Paris meeting to try to improve cooperation in the fight against the militants.
    "The Boko Haram problem isn't just a Nigerian one; it has become a regional if not continental. We are here to declare war on Boko Haram and we will defeat these terrorists," said Cameroon's President Paul Biya.
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