Boko Haram: Cameroon deploys its multinational contingent

President Paul Biya has appointed officers to assume responsibilities within the force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

For the position of Deputy Commander of the multinational joint Force, Paul Biya appointed new Brigadier General, Nka Valère. At age 59, observers already assume he is on the verge retirement.

He will aid the Commander of the multinational force, the Nigerian general, Illiya Abbah, and the Chadian officer who will be appointed as Chef d’Etat-Major.

The graduate from the November 6, 1982 promotion at Emia, will be at the heart of the strategy of resolution of a crisis which he has witnessed the rise in power. He was the defense attaché at the High Commission of Cameroon in Abuja since June 2010. This son from Lékié is also conversant with the northern part of Cameroon, the most exposed to the atrocities of Boko Haram.

At the command post of the 3rd joint military region in Garoua, he was between 2005 and 2010, Deputy Chief of staff to the Commander. Prior to 2005, he was the military Secretariat as Deputy Chief.

Cameroon will also be present in the theatre of operations. Thus, the 1st of the four sectors of the multinational force will have its command post at Mora in the Mayo Sava. This area includes the departments of Logone and Chari, Mayo Sava and Mayo Tsanaga. It will be headed by the new Brigadier General, Bouba Dobekreo. This native officer of the Extreme North is very familiar with this area where he proved this in the direction of the units of the Rapid Intervention Battalion. After defeating high way robbers, he also led a retort against poaching criminals who decimate cohorts of elephants in the Bouba Ndjidda Park in 2013.

In recent years, he was known more as the general coordinator of BIR. At the age of 57, this BIR man, trained in the reality of combat, led the troops on Cameroonian front of the operational zone of the joint Multinational Force.

To the position of command of the multinational force in Ndjamena, the Chief of operations was a Cameroonian, Colonel Vincent Fonkon Djio. He is a former Chef d’Etat-Major at the brigade in quartier general, Yaoundé.

The aspect of communication of the Multinational Force was supported by the Lieutenant-Colonel Laurent Hubert Claude. As the new head of communication, the air force officer only spent a few months as the head of the battalion of air fusiliers.

Cameroon deployed 2450 troops out of the 8700 men (military and civilian) expected from the four countries of the Committee and Benin. This force received the support of the African Union, sub-regional organizations. The major powers agreed to contribute to the financing of this multinational force.

For the heads of State of the countries of the basin of Lake Chad, the Multinational Force will have an offensive attitude against the terrorists. The ambition is to completely extinguish Boko Haram by destroying all its strength. During his visit to Cameroon, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria suggested that this force could be operational before the end of March. Cameroon intended to carry out all the necessary conditions for the deployment of this force.

It was clearly ascertained that the soldiers of the multinational force can move into the territories of the countries concerned, without requiring authorization. The Force will benefit from support of the intelligence unit of certain Western powers.