DHAKA: Leaders of central and west African states will hold a summit on Wednesday to try to draw up a joint strategy against Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants.

A statement from organizers said Sunday, reports The Straits Times.

The April 8 summit will be the first of its kind since Nigeria’s election a week ago which was won by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader who has vowed to rid his country of the ‘terror’ of Boko Haram.

‘In the face of the mounting and increasingly bloody attacks by the fundamentalists against Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad and the series consequences for these countries, and the real risk of destabilizing western and central Africa, the two organizations have decided to take action,’ a statement from regional bloc ECOWAS said.

A coalition involving troops from the four countries has been waging offensives against the Islamists in a bid to crush the insurgency, which has now spread across borders from Boko Haram’s stronghold in Nigeria.

BDST: 1936 HRS, APR 05, 2015
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