Nigeria names head of regional force to fight Boko Haram

Nigeria on Thursday named a general to lead a new multinational task force created to fight Boko Haram jihadists in the face of a surge of devastating attacks.

The announcement came as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was in Cameroon in a bid to forge a stronger regional alliance against the Islamists.

The Nigerian military meanwhile said it had rescued another 59 people held hostage by Boko Haram, among them 29 women and 25 children.

Major-General Iliya Abbah, who previously commanded military operations in the oil-rich Niger Delta, will head the five-nation force, Nigerian military spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said.

The Multi-National Joint Task Force, made up of 8,700 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, is expected to be more effective than a current alliance in the battle to end Boko Haram's six-year insurgency, which has claimed some 15,000 lives.

In a joint statement after their talks in Yaounde, Buhari and Cameroon's President Paul Biya expressed "their common determination to eradicate Boko Haram... and agreed to intensify the exchange of information between the two countries."

They will also beef up security along their shared border, the statement added.

Asked when the new regional force would go into action, Buhari said: "It should ready today or tomorrow, by the end of this month."

But he added: "After the promises of G7 countries to help the region defeat Boko Haram, we are waiting for training, equipment and intelligence assistance."

Buhari visited Washington last week but returned empty-handed because the United States is prohibited by law from sending weapons to countries that fail to tackle human rights abuses, a stance the Nigerian leader said was helping Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks since Buhari took office in May, unleashing a wave of violence that has claimed more than 800 lives in just two months.

In another gruesome attack reported Thursday, Boko Haram militants slit the throats of 10 fishermen in villages on the shores of Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria on Monday, a fisherman and a resident told AFP.

- Dozens of hostages freed -

"In order to win this war we need the collective efforts of each one of us, standing together as a formidable force for good, to defeat and end these acts of terror against our people," Buhari said at a state dinner in Yaounde on Wednesday.

The regional task force will be headquartered in Chad's capital N'Djamena, but few other specific details have emerged, raising concerns that its deployment may face delays.

Abbah, a Muslim from northern Nigeria, served as the army's military secretary, Olukolade said. In that post, he was responsible for promotions, postings and retirements.

The officer was also part of Nigeria's contingent to peacekeeping operations in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region, one of his close friends told AFP.

Boko Haram extremists launched their armed insurgency in 2009 and claim to want to found a strict Islamic caliphate in and around northeastern Nigeria.

The name loosely translates as "Western education is forbidden".

Since taking office, Buhari has also visited Chad and Niger, which have also suffered from attacks by the Islamist fighters and sent troops to take part in operations.

Buhari is expected to visit Benin, a small country on Nigeria's western border, on Saturday after his return from Cameroon.

Nigeria's army said hostage rescue operation was carried out in the country's restive northeast.

Mallam Modu Goni, one of the 59 hostages rescued , said a large number of militants had abducted him and several fellow villagers last week, and that he was forced to go "several days without food before the army rescued us yesterday".

Earlier this week, the army said it had freed 30 other hostages, including 21 children.

Boko Haram has abducted thousands of civilians, including children, in raids on villages and towns inside Nigeria and abroad. Non-Muslims are forcibly converted to Islam.

The movement has also forced young teenage girls and women to become suicide bombers.

In the past eight days, such bombers have killed at least 47 people in attacks at crowded places, including a market and a popular bar, in towns in both Nigeria and Cameroon.