The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, has said that the Chadian component of the 8700 strong Multinational Joint Task Force has not been deployed.
Olonisakin said however that the MNJTF had taken off with most of the troops troops contributing member states deploying troops to the task force.
The CDS made the comment while hosting a military delegation from Niger led by the country’s Joint Chief of Staff, Gen. Seyini Garba, at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, on Thursday.
He said that the troops had been deployed to cover all the targeted locations except those meant to have the presence of the Chadian Forces.
According to him, the efforts were being made to address the issues preventing the deployment of the Chadian troops to the Task Force.
The CDS said the Commander of the Task Force, Maj-Gen. Iliyasu Abbah, had gone round the contributing countries in the bid to ensure effective troops deployment in the locations.
He added that Nigeria’s neighbour, Niger, had deployed their troops and were contributing effectively to the regional objective against the Boko Haram.
Olonisakin said he called the attention of the French Chief of Defence Staff to the need to give necessary assistance to the francophone countries in the fight against terrorism during a recent visit to Dakar, Senegal.
He said, “The troops for the MNJTF are drawn from five nations, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, the Cameroon and Benin Republic. Most of the troops have been deployed especially those from Niger which is in the same sector with Nigeria and they are performing their roles effectively.