Nigeria in Talks With Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to Restructure the Lake Chad Multinational Joint Task Force
Nigeria's defence ministry spokesman Samaila Uba said in Abuja on November 5 that Nigeria has opened discussions with member states of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to restructure the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in the Lake Chad Basin, so that regional counter-terrorism cooperation can continue after the political reshaping of West Africa. The task force, created in 2015, groups Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin and is charged mainly with fighting Boko Haram and affiliated armed groups.
The move follows the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The three countries formed the Alliance of Sahel States in 2023 and turned it into a confederation in July 2024, weakening traditional consultation mechanisms as Western forces pulled out of the Sahel. Nigeria hopes to bridge the divide between the two blocs and keep military cooperation on the ground working; discussions are under way, but no details or timeline for the restructuring have been announced.
The regional security picture remains severe: data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project (ACLED) counted 2,145 jihadist-related events in the three AES states so far this year. On November 6, Niger's President Abdourahamane Tiani and Mali's transitional president Assimi Goita met in Niamey and reaffirmed counter-terrorism and security cooperation within the Sahel alliance, praising the progress of its unified force.
Analysts say Nigeria and countries such as Niger are trying to come together again to confront terrorism, in a situation very different from the early days of the Boko Haram insurgency; how the task force is reshaped will depend on further diplomatic consultations.
(Source: Nigerian Ministry of Defence)
Source: Nigerian Ministry of Defence
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：尼日利亚首都 Abuja 的国家清真寺（资料图）。Mark Fischer 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The National Mosque in Abuja, Nigeria (file photo). By Mark Fischer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
