Parents and relatives arrives holding portraits of their girls for a commemoration five years after they were abducted by Boko Haram Jihadists group on April 14, 2019 at the Chibok Local Government. – On April 14, 2014, gunmen stormed the Chibok girls’ boarding school, kidnapping 276 pupils aged 12-17, 57 of whom managed to escape by jumping from the trucks. After negotiations with Boko Haram, 107 of the girls either escaped, were released in exchange for prisoners or were recovered by the army. 112 Chibok girls are still missing. (Photo AFP)
The four countries bordering Lake Chad on Friday launched a fund aimed at collecting $100 million to help counter climate change and a devastating jihadists insurgency.
This screen grab image taken on January 2, 2018 from a video released on January 2, 2018 by Islamist group Boko Haram shows Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaking in his first video message in months amid a surge in violence casting doubt on the Nigerian government’s claim that the jihadist group is defeated.
Shekau’s message comes during an acceleration of Boko Haram attacks and just days after the jihadists killed 25 people outside Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Islamist insurgency. / AFP PHOTO
West Africa’s largest lake — whose shoreline is shared by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — has shrunk by 90 percent since the 1960s, a fall blamed on global warming and poor water management.
The area is a stronghold for Nigerian-based Boko Haram militants, whose decade-old revolt has left thousands of dead and displaced more than two million.
The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) said the “stabilisation funds” would initially have a proposed budget of around $100 million (around 90 million euros).
The money “will serve as a rapid response mechanism” to help local authorities counter Boko Haram by beefing up basic services and support, it said in a statement.
The two-year project, which will start to unfold in eight regions from September, will rely heavily on external donors.
The fund and the appeal for money were launched on Friday in the Nigerien capital Niamey, on the sidelines of a forum of governors from the eight regions.
The struggle to save youngsters from Boko Haram(Opens in a new browser tab)
Sweden pledged around $8 million (around 7 million euros), the LCBC said, while the European Union (EU), Britain and Germany promised “assistance”.
Lake Chad’s decline has impoverished many families, prompting young people to join the jihadists.
The UN estimates that 10.7 million people in the region depend on food aid.
Disclaimer
Comments expressed here do not reflect the opinions of Vanguard newspapers or any employee thereof.