Reuters: Niger Withdraws from MNJTF  in Blow to Fight Against Terrorism 

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Niger Republic has quit an international force fighting armed Islamist groups in West Africa’s Lake Chad region as it seeks to shore up security around oil assets at home, a Reuters report has said, quoting the government’s bulletin on state television.

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which also includes soldiers from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, has been working to stem the insurgency since 2015, but progress has been hobbled by division and poor coordination, allowing armed groups to flourish across the region’s sparsely populated scrublands.

In March 1994, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) set up the MNJTF – comprising Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, joined by Benin – to combat insecurity in the region.

The regional force symbolised LCBC member states’ ability to overcome the mistrust and friction that had characterised their bilateral relations, particularly around boundary issues, the  Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reported at the time.

However, in the past two years, rifts have weakened the MNJTF – while the jihadist threat remains acute and demands regional, not just national, responses.

After a lacklustre first 10 years, the force was reactivated in 2014 in response to the rise and spread of Boko Haram attacks. Backed by the African Union (AU), its mandate focuses on combating Boko Haram and other terrorist groups to enable stabilisation and humanitarian operations.

In all, the MNJTF represented a cornerstone of the holistic approach envisaged by LCBC member states,  who quickly understood the need to work together as a region against a transnational threat.

The force’s record since 2014 has been generally encouraging, with successes achieved in halting Boko Haram’s territorial expansion. At its height, Boko Haram controlled large areas in North East Nigeria and directly threatened cities like Chad’s capital N’Djamena, Cameroon’s Far North Region capital Maroua, and southeast Niger’s Diffa.

The insurgents are currently enclaved in three main areas: Lake Chad’s islands, Cameroon’s Mandara Mountains, and Sambisa Forest in Nigeria.

Through several operations, such as Lake Sanity, the MNJTF has regularly disrupted Boko Haram by dismantling its bases, arms caches, weapons and armour manufacturing workshops. Fighters – including commanders – have been neutralised, liberating occupied communities and enabling the seizure of military and logistical equipment

But Reuters said that the MNJTF has yet to comment on Niger’s withdrawal, and it is unclear how the step will affect the mission’s future.

The Lake Chad region has been repeatedly attacked by militant groups, including Islamic State in West Africa and Boko Haram, whose insurgency erupted in northeast Nigeria in 2009 and has killed tens of thousands of people.

Last year, Chad threatened to pull out of the MNJTF after about 40 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base.

Niger Republic has become increasingly withdrawn since a military junta overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in 2023. Along with Burkina Faso and Mali – neighbouring states where juntas also snatched power in recent years – it withdrew from the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2024.

Niger’s junta, which last week announced a five-year transition to constitutional rule, has promised to restore security in the country, whose vast desert north is crossed by migrants and traffickers.

But the army has little control over large parts of the country. Islamist militants killed at least 44 civilians and severely injured 13 others during an attack on a mosque in the southwest this month. Its energy infrastructure, including an oil pipeline that links the Agadem oilfield to Benin’s coast, has come under attack.