Nigeria appoints new head of regional anti-terror force

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria has appointed Major-General Iliyasu Abbah commander of the Multinational Military Joint Task Force (MNJTF) as the country and its regional allies gear up for a major offensive against the Boko Haram militant group in Nigeria’s volatile northeast.

“Major General Abbah has been appointed MNJTF commander, replacing Major-General Tukur Buratai,” Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman told Anadolu Agency.

Buratai was recently put in charge of the Nigerian army, necessitating his departure from the MNJTF, which includes contingents from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin.

Before his recent appointment as MNJTF chief, Abbah had served as Nigerian military secretary, during which he had carried out various responsibilities within the army. 

At one point, Abbah led the army’s special task force in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

A distinguished infantry officer, Abbah received the Chief-of-Army-Staff Award in 2013 -- when he was a brigadier general -- for his efforts in restoring calm to Nigeria’s northwestern Kano State following the resurgence of Boko Haram in 2012.

Established in 1994 by late Nigerian military dictator Sani Abacha to fight cross-border criminal activity, the MNJTF has since been deployed in the fight against the notorious militant group, with troops drawn from Nigeria's neighbors in the Lake Chad region.

Following recent summits devoted to discussing means of countering Boko Haram, the Lake Chad Basin Commission -- which comprises Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin -- has agreed to bring the MNJTF’s total troop strength up to some 8,700.

Backed by the African Union, the regional force -- headquartered in Chadian capital Ndjamena -- currently fields 3,200 multi-agency personnel from Nigeria; 3,000 from Chad; 950 from Cameroon; 750 from Niger; and 750 from Benin.