President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria will visit troops on the frontlines of the Boko Haram conflict on Wednesday and is to dispatch his defence minister to Chad following a jump in attacks.
The 75 year president, who is standing for a second term of elections in the February presidential polls has been under pressure over claims that the nine-year Islamist insurgency was close to defeat.
Via a post shared on Twitter on Monday, presidential spokesman Bashir Ahmad indicated that Buhari would attend an army conference in Maiduguri as well as use the opportunity to address troops in order to boost their morale.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled his planned official visit to Benin, Edo State tomorrow, to visit Maiduguri, Borno State on Wednesday,” he wrote.
This week, Defence Minister Mansur Dan-Ali is expected to hold talks with his Chadian counterpart General Daoud Yaya over “strengthening the operations” of the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.
According to reports made by AFP, there have been at least 17 attempts to overrun army bases since July. Many of which were claimed by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram.
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