ISIL-affiliated Boko Haram has topped the agenda at a summit in Abuja. French President Francois Hollande flew in for the meeting and regional leaders have been told the group remains a big threat.
President Muhammadu Buhari(R) welcoming the visiting French President, Francois Hollande at the presidential villa Abuja on Saturday.
French President Francois Hollande's first visit to Nigeria. And it's seen as a crucial one. France helped drive attempts to create a regional force to fight Boko Haram. The group's been driven back in recent months. But it's certainly not broken. And Nigeria's president is clear more work needs to be done.
Muhammadu Buhari says about $1 billion is needed to help develop the Lake Chad region - to 'eradicate the causes' of terrorism.
"Now, with technology and millions of volunteers and .. with no borders. For that, it is a matter of concern for people of conscience to learn that in Nigeria there is at least 2 million internally displaced persons - 60 percent of them are women and children. Most of the children are orphaned they don't even know where they come from and they don't even know their parents. This for people of conscience is of great concern and we are doing our best to organize series of committees where both national and international organizations can be guided on what help is required and where," Buhari said.
Countries such as Britain and America are providing military expertise.
France has been providing intelligence, training and equipment to support the missions of the Multinational Joint Task Force - fighting against Boko Haram. It has deployed more than 3,000 troops in Chad - and has been conducting reconnaissance flights and providing much-needed intelligence.
Hollande says there's been some success in the battle. He's worried though that group's like Boko Haram continue to find funding.
"To combat terrorism, the global community has to fight corruption and dwindling economy... this has an impact on the terrorist groups and their ability to finance arms trafficking as well as terror attacks. Are we doing enough? We've achieved major progress already, but this is not the end. So, we'll continue to fight against all systems that enable all forms of trafficking," Hollande said.
Francois Hollande and Buhari have now both signed a letter of intent to boost defense ties.President Hollande later joined other heads from the Lake Chad Basin at this regional security meeting. Still the focus here - defeating Boko Haram and addressing the humanitarian crisis resulting from the seven-year-old insurgency.
